Definition of CRASSNESS

Examples of crass in a Sentence

Minor criticism though it was compared to the rest, the most galling calumny of all as far as Gaius Marius was concerned was the perpetual inference that he was unacceptably crass because he had no Greek. —Colleen McCullough, The First Man in Rome, (1990) 1991
He had removed her from that crass monied Middle Atlantic society where she had seemed stilted and fragile. —John Updike, Couples, 1968
We are urgently in need of progress, but not if it means the kind of crass complacency that ignores the fact that history for most men and women to date has meant misery and fruitless toil … —Terry Eagleton, Harper's, March 2005
A few people seemed shocked by her crass comments.
a loudmouthed jerk given to rude jokes and crass comments

Recent Examples of crass from the Web

But when the singer went to tweet about the importance of our nation's independence, she was met with a crass response.

— devon ivie, SELF, "Someone Tried to Fat-Shame Kelly Clarkson, And It Didn't Work. At All.", 5 July 2017
Calls for the Texas Rangers to trade Yu Darvish, and crass remarks about the need to extend his contract immediately, started leaking onto social media early Wednesday night.

— jeff wilson, star-telegram, "Indians top Darvish as Rangers play waiting game on trades", 28 June 2017
Lawrence was disturbed by this crass American fame that this journalist was bestowing on him, fame to the point that people were chasing him down the streets.

— lorraine boissoneault, Smithsonian, "The Forgotten Man Who Transformed Journalism in America", 23 June 2017
Beattie especially savors the abject drama of weddings and birthdays, where her vivid prose spikes the fever of human haplessness and showcases our most crass imperfections.

— special to the washington post, The Denver Post, "Ann Beattie is one of our few contemporary masters of storytelling", 15 June 2017
Maher, an outspoken and often crass comedian, used the N-word in an interview Friday night with Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, sparking immediate outrage on social media.

— marilia brocchetto, CNN, "Two comedians, two controversies: One giant cringeworthy week", 3 June 2017
But as crass as that is, Sawant may in a sense only be channeling the people.

— danny westneat, The Seattle Times, "In Seattle, is it now taboo to be friends with a Republican?", 2 June 2017
In crass times like these, the deep civility that powers his voice is a balm.

— frances mayes, New York Times, "Romance and Construction Vehicles Under the Tuscan Sun", 2 June 2017
Criticism, no matter the tone or validity, is rejected out-of-hand and cast as either unwitting moral failure, political naïveté or, worse, the crass expression of something deplorable in the critic.

— gregory krieg, CNN, "Hillary Clinton hysteria shows Democrats are asking themselves the wrong questions", 1 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'crass'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of crass

Latin crassus thick, gross

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First Known Use: circa 1625

See Words from the same year

crass Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of crass

stupid, dull, dense, crass, dumb mean lacking in power to absorb ideas or impressions. stupid implies a slow-witted or dazed state of mind that may be either congenital or temporary. stupid students just keeping the seats warm stupid with drink dull suggests a slow or sluggish mind such as results from disease, depression, or shock. monotonous work that leaves the mind dull dense implies a thickheaded imperviousness to ideas. too dense to take a hint crass suggests a grossness of mind precluding discrimination or delicacy. a crass, materialistic people dumb applies to an exasperating obtuseness or lack of comprehension. too dumb to figure out what's going on

crass