coarse
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: enpr: kôs
ipa: /kɔːs/
enpr: kôrs
ipa: /kɔɹs/
ipa: [kʰo̞ɹs]
note: rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
enpr: kōrs
ipa: /ko(ː)ɹs/
note: rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
note: non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
ipa: /koəs/
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)s
homophone: course
Forms: form: coarser
form: coarsest
Etymology: Adjectival use of course that diverged in spelling in the 18th century. The sense developed from '(following) the usual course' (cf. of course) to 'ordinary, common' to 'lacking refinement', with 'not fine, granular' arising from its application to cloth. Compare the development of mean.
Senses: examples: text: Two hundred Sempſtreſſes were employed to make me Shirts, and Linen for Bed and Table, all of the ſtrongeft and coarſeſt kind they could get; which, however, they were forced to quilt together in ſeveral Folds, for the thickeſt was ſome degrees finer than Lawn.
ref: 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “Of the Inhabitants of Lilliput; […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), pages 107–108:
glosses: With a rough texture; not smooth.
examples: text: coarse sand
text: Graham flour is coarsely granulated wheat meal. No sieves or bolting cloths are employed in its manufacture, and many coarse, unpulverized particles are present in the product.
ref: 1908, Harry Snyder, Human Foods and their Nutritive Value, New York: Macmillan, section 157, pp. 145-146:
text: Missing units may be attributed to either the lack of proper sized material in the source or the successive, downcurrent sedimentation of the coarser materials first and the finer materials last.
ref: 2012, Paul E. Potter, James Maynard, Wayne A. Pryor, Sedimentology of Shale: Study Guide and Reference Source:
glosses: Composed of large particles.
examples: text: coarse manners
text: coarse language
text: ☞ This word [earth] is liable to a coarſe vulgar pronunciation, as if written Urth;[…]
ref: 1791, John Walker, A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary […] , London: Sold by G. G. J. and J. Robinſon, Paternoſter Row; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, →OCLC, page 211:
text: The butcher and the porkman painted up only the leanest scrags of meat; the baker, the coarsest of meagre loaves.
ref: 2007, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, Penguin, →ISBN, page 34:
glosses: Lacking refinement, taste or delicacy.
glosses: Unrefined.
raw_tags: of a metal
examples: text: Due to the internet issue, the system generated an coarse audio file.
text: She detests visiting coarse places.
glosses: Of inferior quality.
Synonyms: sense: of inferior quality
word: thick
sense: of inferior quality
word: rough
sense: of inferior quality
word: sharp
sense: of inferior quality
word: hard
sense: not refined
word: rough
sense: not refined
word: rude
sense: not refined
word: uncouth
sense: not refined
word: blunt
sense: not refined
word: unpolished
sense: not refined
word: inelegant
sense: not refined
word: indelicate
sense: not refined
word: vulgar
sense: not refined
word: gritty
sense: not refined
word: obscene
sense: not refined
word: crass
Derived terms: coarse fish
coarse-grained
coarse-graining
coarsehanded
coarse-handed
coarsely
coarsen
coarseness
coarsish
coarsy
uncoarse