1
as in raw
being such as found in nature and not altered by processing or refining
a sizable spill of crude oil along a coastline is the worst kind of environmental disaster
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in primitive
belonging to or characteristic of an early level of skill or development
the crude stone tools that those prehistoric peoples used
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in vulgar
depicting or referring to sexual matters in a way that is unacceptable in polite society
crude jokes can be considered sexual harassment
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4
as in crass
lacking in refinement or good taste
any discussion of one's money is considered crude by the club's blue-blooded members
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5
as in clumsy
hastily or roughly constructed
a crude hut that was constructed by some shipwrecked sailors
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of crude
Burke gave the only 9 on a panel full of 10s, prompting the crude call out.
—
Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
America only accounted for around five percent of China's LNG imports and two percent of its crude oil imports in 2024, according to Chinese customs data.
—Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2025
Shell's results come as French oil major TotalEnergies reported a slight drop in third-quarter profit as oil and gas production growth helped to offset lower crude prices.
—Sam Meredith, CNBC, 30 Oct. 2025
Industry engineers say that the state’s crude pipelines, which carry heavy oil, are approaching a tipping point.
—Lora Myers, Oc Register, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crude
Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
America only accounted for around five percent of China's LNG imports and two percent of its crude oil imports in 2024, according to Chinese customs data.
—Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2025
Shell's results come as French oil major TotalEnergies reported a slight drop in third-quarter profit as oil and gas production growth helped to offset lower crude prices.
—Sam Meredith, CNBC, 30 Oct. 2025
Industry engineers say that the state’s crude pipelines, which carry heavy oil, are approaching a tipping point.
—Lora Myers, Oc Register, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crude
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crude
Adjective
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Russia has put great efforts into developing economic ties and supply chains with China and could become another supplier to the country, which has been importing an increasing amount of raw rare earths from the likes of Myanmar, Malaysia and Laos, for the processing stage of production.—
Holly Ellyatt,
CNBC,
10 Nov. 2025
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Nuts available raw or roasted include macadamias, peanuts, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, chestnuts, hazelnuts, and pine nuts.—
Cory Martin,
Verywell Health,
10 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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If successful, this productive force— supposed to be restorative, in at least some visions—would grow up in symbiosis with primitive fossil capital.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Nov. 2025
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These samples provide insights into primitive carbonaceous material, the water, and the organic content of early solar system bodies.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Who decides what’s decorous and what’s vulgar?—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
25 Oct. 2025
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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
Adjective
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Each project presented at MIA is picked with a genuine desire for these works to come to the fore, not by crass commercial considerations.—
Nick Vivarelli,
Variety,
30 Sep. 2025
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Free speech covers the jokes, the satire, the parodies—even the dumb, crass, or offensive ones.—
Lizz Winstead,
Time,
27 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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For starters, even at 4 mm by 4 mm, the Utah array would be too big and clumsy a hunk of hardware for Science to implant in the eye or Synchron to thread through a vein.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
6 Nov. 2025
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What resulted is one of the most comic, counterproductive, and clumsy episodes in the long history of British efforts to deal with Ireland.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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With the climate crisis only deepening each year, throwing natural cycles and seasons into disarray, Japan is now bracing for future spikes in human-bear encounters each fall and spring.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 2025
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Systems to better protect oceans, coastal marshes and mangroves will also be on the agenda, as well as an emphasis on the indigenous people who live on and manage much of the world’s natural places.—
Jeff Young,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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But back in the time of Galileo, the phenomena of electricity and magnetism were only understood in the most rudimentary of fashions; by the 19th century, they had been investigated much more thoroughly.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
5 Nov. 2025
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The Prelude’s rear seat is so rudimentary, Honda didn’t even provide a photo of it.—
Mark Phelan,
Freep.com,
5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Banners containing commercial, political or obscene material, or that block guest views.—
Ed Masley,
AZCentral.com,
4 Nov. 2025
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Just another week in the world of Ball, who was fined $35,000 by the NBA on Monday for making an obscene gesture in the fourth quarter of the Hornets’ 144-117 loss to Miami.—
Roderick Boone,
Charlotte Observer,
2 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Crude.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crude. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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