Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective boorish differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of boorish are churlish, clownish, and loutish. While all these words mean "uncouth in manners or appearance," boorish implies rudeness of manner due to insensitiveness to others' feelings and unwillingness to be agreeable.

a drunk's boorish behavior

When might churlish be a better fit than boorish?

While the synonyms churlish and boorish are close in meaning, churlish suggests surliness, unresponsiveness, and ungraciousness.

churlish remarks

When is it sensible to use clownish instead of boorish?

In some situations, the words clownish and boorish are roughly equivalent. However, clownish suggests ill-bred awkwardness, ignorance or stupidity, ungainliness, and often a propensity for absurd antics.

an adolescent's clownish conduct

When could loutish be used to replace boorish?

The words loutish and boorish are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, loutish implies bodily awkwardness together with stupidity.

a loutish oaf

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of boorish While the boorish behavior of Twain’s shipmates is cataloged throughout (snapping off pieces of ancient monuments for souvenirs, for instance), his most flamboyant portrayal is a self-portrait. Caity Weaver, The Atlantic, 5 June 2025 Intention and accidents, theft and boorish behavior: it all gets folded into the myth-serving lore. Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 19 May 2025 Final Destination 5 suffers from a pretty dull ensemble of future corpses (the most boorish include David Koechner and Rugrat from The Wolf of Wall Street), going through the same cycle of disbelief and dread the death-list targets always experience in these movies. A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 19 May 2025 MacFarlane will continue to provide the voice of Ted — a teddy bear brought to life by a boy’s wish, now grown up and bearing the hallmarks of a boorish Seth MacFarlane character. Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 9 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for boorish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for boorish
Adjective
  • This was like loutish English tourists turning up unannounced and urinating in the holy water.
    Tim Spiers, New York Times, 22 May 2025
  • And Gandolfini, who died of a heart attack in 2013 at age 51, was the show’s tempestuous soul, playing a loutish killer with a quick temper and sad eyes.
    Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • The series offers Whitford his latest opportunity to express general bemusement with the American political process, this time sporting a bushy white beard, and Whigham his latest opportunity to be an uncouth bull in an otherwise genteel china shop.
    Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Every unflattering photo and uncouth inside joke will come to light.
    Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Communism, in its traditional definition, describes a system in which private property is abolished and the means of production are collectively owned, with the goal of creating a classless society.
    Cameron Schoppa, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
  • Louis Hartz maintained that the hegemony of liberal thought, with its vaunting of the classless individual, made Marxists politically superfluous.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Read more: How the Low-Stakes Murder Mystery Took Over Pop Culture Advertisement Still, The Thursday Murder Club is so good-natured, and so gorgeous to look at, that to carp about it just seems churlish.
    Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 22 Aug. 2025
  • The pure of heart among you may recoil at the notion that anyone would sow brutish chaos, hurt vulnerable people and throw any semblance of democracy under the bus for a churlish, vicious distraction.
    Pat Beall, Sun Sentinel, 14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Those long familiar with Pratt’s clownish agent-of-chaos persona both onscreen and on their social feeds may find his latest role disorienting.
    Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2025
  • The combo together ensures that the lip doesn't look clownish.
    Sarah Hoffmann, Allure, 3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • What gave me the crazy idea to stand at the bar, listening to that woman being praised for her stupid f---ing commitment to New York City and her ugly f---ing buildings?
    Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 7 Nov. 2025
  • Her mechanism for luring victims involves a stick, someone’s hair, her blood, and another person stupid enough to let her through their front door.
    Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Who decides what’s decorous and what’s vulgar?
    Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2025
  • The president has been targeting Jeffries online with offensive and vulgar memes since the pair first had an unsuccessful sit-down meeting in the Oval Office just before the shutdown.
    Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 9 Oct. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Boorish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/boorish. Accessed 14 Nov. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on boorish

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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