coarsen

verb

coars·​en ˈkȯr-sᵊn How to pronounce coarsen (audio)
coarsened; coarsening

intransitive verb

: to become coarse

Examples of coarsen in a Sentence

Her hands were coarsened by years of hard work. He was coarsened by his time in prison. offensive words that coarsen the English language The book describes how popular culture has coarsened in recent decades.
Recent Examples on the Web At a time of coarsening of public discourse, Oz worked across sectors to show that courage does not require cruelty. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 13 Apr. 2023 To his detractors, Roy was — more than any other single figure — responsible for coarsening the political discourse in the United States, eroding public trust in journalism and providing a platform for xenophobia, misogyny and climate denialism. Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2023 Several generations of filmgoers have been so coarsened by dull routine that the unpretentious John Wick brawls directly please their visceral connoisseurship. Armond White, National Review, 24 Mar. 2023 If Trump’s effect on the Republican Party was simply to coarsen it, then progressives might have grimaced and taken it. The New Yorker, 16 Apr. 2022 See all Example Sentences for coarsen 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'coarsen.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1805, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of coarsen was in 1805

Dictionary Entries Near coarsen

Cite this Entry

“Coarsen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coarsen. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!