Wiktionary

coarse

English

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Etymology

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Adjectival use of course that diverged in spelling in the 18th century. The sense developed from '(following) the usual course' (cf. of course) to 'ordinary, common' to 'lacking refinement', with 'not fine, granular' arising from its application to cloth. Compare the development of mean.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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coarse (comparative coarser, superlative coarsest)

  1. With a rough texture; not smooth.
    • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “Of the Inhabitants of Lilliput; […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), pages 107–108:
      Two hundred Sempſtreſſes were employed to make me Shirts, and Linen for Bed and Table, all of the ſtrongeft and coarſeſt kind they could get; which, however, they were forced to quilt together in ſeveral Folds, for the thickeſt was ſome degrees finer than Lawn.
  2. Composed of large particles.
    coarse sand
    • 1908, Harry Snyder, Human Foods and their Nutritive Value‎[1], New York: Macmillan, section 157, pp. 145-146:
      Graham flour is coarsely granulated wheat meal. No sieves or bolting cloths are employed in its manufacture, and many coarse, unpulverized particles are present in the product.
    • 2012, Paul E. Potter, James Maynard, Wayne A. Pryor, Sedimentology of Shale: Study Guide and Reference Source‎[2]:
      Missing units may be attributed to either the lack of proper sized material in the source or the successive, downcurrent sedimentation of the coarser materials first and the finer materials last.
  3. Lacking refinement, taste or delicacy.
    coarse manners
    coarse language
    • 1791, John Walker, A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary […] ‎[3], London: Sold by G. G. J. and J. Robinſon, Paternoſter Row; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, →OCLC, page 211:
      ☞ This word [earth] is liable to a coarſe vulgar pronunciation, as if written Urth; […]
    • 2007, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, Penguin, →ISBN, page 34:
      The butcher and the porkman painted up only the leanest scrags of meat; the baker, the coarsest of meagre loaves.
  4. (archaic, of a metal) Unrefined.
  5. Of inferior quality.
    (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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  • (of inferior quality): fine

Derived terms

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Collocations

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with nouns (composed of large parts or particles)
  • coarse particle
  • coarse grain
  • coarse graining
  • coarse sand
  • coarse powder
  • coarse gravel
  • coarse grit
  • coarse salt
  • coarse gold
  • coarse thread
  • coarse hair
  • coarse coth
  • coarse grid
  • coarse aggregate
  • coarse texture
  • coarse grass
  • coarse fish
  • coarse angling
  • coarse fishing
with nouns (lacking refinement)
  • coarse language
  • coarse manners
  • coarse words

Translations

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Translations to be checked

Further reading

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Anagrams

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