as in boorish
having or showing crudely insensitive or impolite manners
it would be churlish for any dinner guest to express anything but gratitude for his host's generous hospitality
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Recent Examples of churlish
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
The churlish comments appeared to have come from conservative activists, or from bots on social media that generate partisan messages, still chafing that Burrows ascended to the speaker's desk with the support of more Democratic House members than Republicans.
—John C. Moritz, Austin American Statesman, 30 July 2025
And refusing to congratulate his SIL is just churlish.
—Stephanie Guerilus, People.com, 21 June 2025
Chinese anger was displayed again in the churlish treatment of visiting Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman in July when, apart from other indignities, the Chinese Foreign Ministry publicly released its list of demands to Washington while her meeting was still underway.
—Danny Russel, Foreign Affairs, 14 Nov. 2021
See All Example Sentences for churlish
Pat Beall, Sun Sentinel, 14 Aug. 2025
The churlish comments appeared to have come from conservative activists, or from bots on social media that generate partisan messages, still chafing that Burrows ascended to the speaker's desk with the support of more Democratic House members than Republicans.
—John C. Moritz, Austin American Statesman, 30 July 2025
And refusing to congratulate his SIL is just churlish.
—Stephanie Guerilus, People.com, 21 June 2025
Chinese anger was displayed again in the churlish treatment of visiting Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman in July when, apart from other indignities, the Chinese Foreign Ministry publicly released its list of demands to Washington while her meeting was still underway.
—Danny Russel, Foreign Affairs, 14 Nov. 2021
See All Example Sentences for churlish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for churlish
Adjective
-
The Brits are wonderful people, and those accents can cover a wide array of boorish behaviors.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
5 Dec. 2025
-
Kimmel, like Stephen Colbert, went from acting as boorish right-wing caricatures to playing themselves — that is, liberals who dislike Trump and support vaccines.—
David Weigel,
semafor.com,
19 Sep. 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
-
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
-
In tribute to Michael Keane’s hair-pulling on Wednesday, Cerys Jones picked through the stupidest dismissals in Premier League history.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
9 Jan. 2026
-
To do a lot less foolish, thoughtless, stupid, idiotic things.—
Gwen Faulkenberry,
Arkansas Online,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Pratt, who long cultivated a clownish and villainous persona, leveraged his significant social media presence following the fire to refashion himself as an earnest mix of citizen watchdog and populist firebrand.—
Gary Baum,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Switcheroo is all snappy disco, clownish house, and musical sight gags.—
Pitchfork,
Pitchfork,
4 Dec. 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
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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
-
People at work have made rude comments pertaining to my hearing.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Mercury News,
6 Jan. 2026
-
Though Jackson acknowledged that those time crunches can be stressful, being rude isn't the way to go.—
Natalia Senanayake,
PEOPLE,
31 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
Although the Ripken card launched many conspiracy theories as to whether the inclusion of its vulgar phrase was truly a mistake or a Fleer marketing ploy, there is a long history of errors making it through quality control in sports card production.—
Tyler Holzhammer,
New York Times,
6 Jan. 2026
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The joke swap during last year's Christmas episode went to some particularly jaw-dropping places after Che made Jost read a vulgar joke about Johansson.—
Brendan Morrow,
USA Today,
21 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Churlish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/churlish. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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