uncouth
AdjectiveUS[uhn-kooth]/ˈʌnˈkuθ/2 syllables
Open English WordNet
Adjective (1)
- lacking refinement or cultivation or taste“he had coarse manners but a first-rate mind”“behavior that branded him as common”“an untutored and uncouth human being”“an uncouth soldier — a real tough guy”“appealing to the vulgar taste for violence”“the vulgar display of the newly rich”Synonyms: coarsecommonrough-cutvulgarOpposite refinedSimilar unrefined
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Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Un·couth′ (ŭn-ko͞oth′), adjective
Origin: OE. uncouth, AS. uncūð unknown, strange: un- (see Un- not) + cūð known, p. p. of cunnan to know. See Can to be able, and cf. Unco, Unked.
1. Unknown. obsolete “This uncouth errand.” John Milton
To leave the good that I had in hand, In hope of better that was uncouth.— Edmund Spenser
2. Uncommon; rare; exquisite; elegant. obsolete
Harness... so uncouth and so rich.— Geoffrey Chaucer
3. Unfamiliar; strange; hence, mysterious; dreadful; also, odd; awkward; boorish; as, uncouth manners. “Uncouth in guise and gesture.” Isaac Taylor
I am surprised with an uncouth fear.— William Shakespeare
Thus sang the uncouth swain.— John Milton
Synonyms: See Awkward.
— Un·couth′wb-a1′>′ly, adverb — Un·couth′wb-a1′>′ness, noun
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54