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
crudely
adverb
crudeness
noun
: a substance in its natural unprocessed state
especially
: unrefined petroleum
Examples of crude in a Sentence
Adjective
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 on the Web
Hanna Park, CNN Money, 3 Oct. 2025
The El Segundo oil refinery is capable of refining 290,000 barrels of crude oil per day, Chevron says on its website, and its primary products are gasoline, jet and diesel.
—Sam Meredith, CNBC, 3 Oct. 2025
Charles Ventura, USA Today, 3 Oct. 2025
His appearances on Kill Tony, a podcast hosted by the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, helped raise his profile; the show has achieved both a huge listenership and notoriety for its crude, taboo-busting sensibility.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 1 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crude
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Adjective
The El Segundo refinery, built in 1911, processes 276,000 barrels of crude oil daily, the company said on its website.
—Hanna Park, CNN Money, 3 Oct. 2025
The El Segundo oil refinery is capable of refining 290,000 barrels of crude oil per day, Chevron says on its website, and its primary products are gasoline, jet and diesel.
—Sam Meredith, CNBC, 3 Oct. 2025
Noun
The refinery processes more than 276,000 barrels of crude per day.
—Charles Ventura, USA Today, 3 Oct. 2025
His appearances on Kill Tony, a podcast hosted by the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, helped raise his profile; the show has achieved both a huge listenership and notoriety for its crude, taboo-busting sensibility.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 1 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crude
Cite this Entry
“Crude.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crude. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
crude
2 of 2 noun
: crude oil
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