crude

adjective \ ˈkrüd \

Updated on: 13 Apr 2018

Definition of crude

cruder; crudest

1 : marked by the primitive, gross, or elemental or by uncultivated simplicity or vulgarity

a crude stereotype

crude tools

crude jokes

2 : existing in a natural state and unaltered by cooking or processing

crude oil

crude ore

3 : rough or inexpert in plan or execution

a crude shelter

4 : lacking a covering, glossing, or concealing element : obvious

crude facts

5 : tabulated without being broken down into classes

the crude death rate

6 archaic : unripe, immature

—

crudely

adverb

—

crudeness

noun

See crude defined for English-language learners

See crude defined for kids

Examples of crude in a Sentence

They built a crude shelter out of branches.
a crude summary of the country's history
She first described the procedure in crude terms, and then went into more detail.

Recent Examples of crude from the Web

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that the increase was driven primarily by rising crude oil prices.

— BostonGlobe.com, "Four things to know from Business," 9 Apr. 2018
There’s lots of crude humor, and not all the jokes land, but the movie has many hilarious moments.

— chronicle staff report, San Francisco Chronicle, "Capsule movie reviews for April 8," 5 Apr. 2018
Growing investment and spending in the U.S. means businesses and consumers are buying more foreign goods, from crude oil to computers to cellphones.

— james f. peltz, latimes.com, "Stocks dive and then surge back as U.S.-China trade war escalates," 4 Apr. 2018
There’s murder, poisonous snakes, and some really crude jokes that amplify its uncanny feel.

— yohana desta, HWD, "Rick and Morty Drops an Especially Confounding April Fool’s Parody Episode," 2 Apr. 2018
Gasoline retailers decided to make some money, spring vacationers drove up demand, crude oil prices went up, and gas refineries continued to undergo seasonal maintenance, resulting in tighter supplies.

— ron hurtibise, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Gas prices up sharply heading into Easter holiday," 30 Mar. 2018
The company blamed its financial demise on the soaring price for renewable energy credits, called RINs, which cost the company about $217 million last year, its greatest expense after crude oil costs.

— andrew maykuth, Philly.com, "Court approves Philadelphia Energy Solutions' bankruptcy plan," 26 Mar. 2018
Until now, biologists have only had crude methods for estimating the average rates and effects of mutations.

— elizabeth pennisi, Science | AAAS, "Mutating DNA caught on film," 15 Mar. 2018
The loss-making paper, subsidized heavily by Adelson, was a crude propaganda outlet for Netanyahu; the prime minister’s office even reportedly dictated its headlines.

— gregg carlstrom, Newsweek, "The Fall of Benjamin Netanyahu and the Future of Israel," 15 Mar. 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of crude

Middle English, from Latin crudus raw, crude, undigested — more at raw

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

crude Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of crude

rude, rough, crude, raw mean lacking in social refinement. rude implies ignorance of or indifference to good form; it may suggest intentional discourtesy.

- rude behavior

rough is likely to stress lack of polish and gentleness.

- rough manners

crude may apply to thought or behavior limited to the gross, the obvious, or the primitive.

- a crude joke

raw suggests being untested, inexperienced, or unfinished.

- turning raw youths into polished performers

crude

noun

Definition of crude

: a substance in its natural unprocessed state; especially : unrefined petroleum

See crude defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of crude from the Web

Moreover, the biggest use of the gas is to inject it into the ground to displace, and thus force to the surface, otherwise-inaccessible crude oil, so the net benefit in terms of global warming is close to zero.

— The Economist, "$15m is available to solve a burning problem," 9 Apr. 2018
The fire chief attributed the sound to a crude bomb made from matches and sticks that had been attached to the home.

— suzanne baker, Naperville Sun, "King planted seeds for change at North Central College during Naperville visit, former student/board trustee recalls," 4 Apr. 2018
Three-quarters of the oil produced in California is, barrel for barrel, as climate-damaging as Canada’s notoriously dirty tar-sands crude, according to my organization’s analysis.

— sheelah kolhatkar, The New Yorker, "The Mail," 2 Apr. 2018
Using this crude and misleading measure, the Dow had its biggest single-day decline in history on Feb. 5, with a drop of more than 1,175 points.

— jeff sommer, New York Times, "Why a Bigger Dose of Market Panic Could Help," 30 Mar. 2018
Over the next month, reports say the crude killed more than 2,400 animals, including cattle, fish, birds, and reptiles, in the department of Santander.

— elaina zachos, National Geographic, "Oil Spill Kills More Than 2,400 Animals," 30 Mar. 2018
Marathon Pipeline operates about 6,400 miles of underground pipeline nationwide, transporting more than a billion barrels of crude oil and petroleum products every year, according to its website.

— emily hopkins, Indianapolis Star, "Marathon Pipeline agrees to $335,000 in EPA settlement for 2016 Wabash River diesel spill," 28 Mar. 2018
The company manages over 8,400 miles of crude oil and products pipelines, as well as an additional 5,000 miles of natural gas pipelines in the eastern half of the United States.

— sarah bowman, Indianapolis Star, "More than 40,000 gallons of diesel spill in southwest Indiana, cleanup underway," 21 Mar. 2018
Among them is the the U.S. oil and gas industry, which relies on steady flows of both crude and natural gas back and forth across the two international borders.

— james osborne, Houston Chronicle, "Cruz says NAFTA negotiations need "paradigm shift"," 21 Mar. 2018

Origin and Etymology of crude

see ¹crude

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1904

See Words from the same year

CRUDE Defined for English Language Learners

crude

adjective

Definition of crude for English Language Learners

: very simple and basic : made or done in a way that does not show a lot of skill
: rude in a way that makes people uncomfortable; especially : talking about sexual matters in a rude way
: very simple and basic in a way that is true but not complete