Definition of rudenext
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as in crude
being such as found in nature and not altered by processing or refining rude pelts that were sent to Europe to be fashioned into elegant hats and coats

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective rude differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of rude are crude, raw, and rough. While all these words mean "lacking in social refinement," rude implies ignorance of or indifference to good form; it may suggest intentional discourtesy.

rude behavior

Where would crude be a reasonable alternative to rude?

The words crude and rude are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, crude may apply to thought or behavior limited to the gross, the obvious, or the primitive.

a crude joke

When would raw be a good substitute for rude?

In some situations, the words raw and rude are roughly equivalent. However, raw suggests being untested, inexperienced, or unfinished.

turning raw youths into polished performers

When is rough a more appropriate choice than rude?

The synonyms rough and rude are sometimes interchangeable, but rough is likely to stress lack of polish and gentleness.

rough manners

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 rude The biggest accidental romance killer was being rude to staff, selected by 15% of respondents. Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 27 May 2026 What this couple is doing is rude. Jeanne Phillips, Mercury News, 26 May 2026 The strength of your answer doesn’t require you to be rude. John Richardson attia Qureshi, CNBC, 22 May 2026 Petrie didn’t only celebrate his own hits but pointed to rival shows like Sky’s Saturday Night Live UK and Prime Video’s Last One Laughing as proof that British comedy is in rude health. Max Goldbart, Deadline, 13 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for rude
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rude
Adjective
  • The most recent incident quickly sparked backlash online, with many commenters criticizing the tourist’s behavior as disrespectful.
    Kelly McGreal, FOXNews.com, 19 May 2026
  • Harris also reported disrespectful talk between the groups, which Ng said amounted to challenges.
    Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 11 May 2026
Adjective
  • After the zapfest on Earth, the anti-climactic tussle between the forces of good and evil occurs back on Eternia, where He-Man and his nemesis cross swords in a clumsy fight that’s not only predictable but also photographed and edited poorly.
    Jeffrey Ressner, HollywoodReporter, 3 June 2026
  • The simple walking pattern adopted by fish, which the Cambridge researchers call an ‘undulating tripod gait’, can appear to be quite clumsy and involves too much flopping.
    Abhishek Bhardwaj, Interesting Engineering, 2 June 2026
Adjective
  • Campsites The park has two primitive (no hookups) campsites—one in each of the two main units.
    Julia Sayers Gokhale, Midwest Living, 1 June 2026
  • Most subsea drones can only trade sparse, primitive status blips.
    Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 1 June 2026
Adjective
  • The service There’s nothing as crass as a check-in desk here.
    Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 June 2026
  • In fact, the very term anti-Semitism was popularized by Wilhelm Marr, a German nationalist who sought to distinguish his anti-Jewish ideology from the crass bigotry of the common folk by dressing his hate up in pseudoscientific terms.
    Yair Rosenberg, The Atlantic, 31 May 2026
Adjective
  • For the design of the barbarian figure, Sweet reached out to Mark Taylor, an artist and designer at Mattel.
    Sanat Pai RaikarAll, Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 May 2026
  • When the Western Roman Empire fell in the fifth century C.E., Europe was plunged into chaos as barbarian Germanic forces advanced south—or so the story goes.
    Emma Gometz, Scientific American, 29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Trump cut education aid, people got ignorant.
    Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 22 May 2026
  • While some plaintiffs who took the bait may have been only grossly ignorant, certainly some were guilty of bad faith, anti-Blackness, and opportunistic collaboration with white supremacy.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 21 May 2026
Adjective
  • Some do this flippantly, but reader Robin suggested drivers who do this do not care and are flat-out discourteous.
    Doug Turnbull, AJC.com, 11 Jan. 2026
  • In 2014, he was found to have been discourteous and used force.
    Milena Malaver, Miami Herald, 7 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Together, the findings in chimpanzees and bonobos suggest a rudimentary form of syntax, the rules that govern word order in human language and give it flexibility and creativity.
    Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 3 June 2026
  • But those tells generally show up only in Claude’s most rudimentary outputs.
    Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 2 June 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Rude.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rude. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.

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