Meanings
comparative cruder · superlative crudest
- Characterized by simplicity, especially something not carefully or expertly made.
a crude guess
3 more examples
a crude shelter
a crude estimate
City Comedies depicted the pursuit of wealth, status, and women in Jacobean London. In a typical plot, a ne'er-do-well young gentleman dupes his older relatives out of money, while lower-class rascals play cruder tricks on respectable citizens.
1983, Wendy Griswold, “The Devil's Techniques: Cultural Legitimation and Social Change”, in American Sociological Review, volume 48, number 5, page 672 of 668–680Synonyms: primitive, rough, rude, rudimentary
- Lacking concealing elements.
a crude truth
Synonyms: obvious, plain, unadorned, undisguised, austere, bare, chaste, inornate
- Lacking tact or taste.
a crude remark
2 more examples
You shouldn't use such crude language when talking to the bank manager.
At first, there’s something almost disconcertingly crude about the sasquatch skins.
2024 June 16, Wendy Ide, “Sasquatch Sunset review – brilliant bigfoot oddity is unexpectedly moving”, in The Guardian, →ISSNSynonyms: blunt, coarse, earthy, gross, stark, uncultivated, vulgar
- grammarPertaining to the uninflected stem of a word.
plural crudes
- countableuncountableAny substance in its natural state.
- abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountableEllipsis of crude oil.
The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices).
2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847, archived from the original on 19 Aug 2022
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveIn a natural, untreated state.
adjectiveCharacterized by simplicity, especially something not carefully or expertly made.
adjectiveLacking concealing elements.
adjectiveNot adjusted or further analyzed.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivenot refined or processed
adjectivebelonging to an early stage of technical development; characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness
adjectivedevoid of any qualifications or disguise or adornment
adjectivenot processed or subjected to analysis
nouna dark oil consisting mainly of hydrocarbons
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*krewh₂-
- Proto-Italic[Term?]
- Latincrūdus
- Middle Englishcrude
- Englishcrude
Doublet of crudo, which was borrowed from Italian, and (more distantly) raw through Proto-Indo-European.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic خَامّ
- خَامّ (ḵāmm)being in a natural state
Bulgarian суро́в, необрабо́тен
- суро́в (suróv)being in a natural state
- необрабо́тен (neobrabóten)being in a natural state
- прост (prost)characterized by simplicity
- груб (grub)characterized by simplicity
- груб (grub)lacking tact or taste
- суро́в (suróv)statistics: in an unanalyzed form
Catalan cru, cru
- crubeing in a natural state
- crulacking concealing elements
- grollerlacking tact or taste
Czech surový syrový, prostý
- surový syrovýbeing in a natural state
- prostýcharacterized by simplicity
- zřejmýlacking concealing elements
- evidentnílacking concealing elements
- jasnýlacking concealing elements
- neomalenýlacking tact or taste
Danish rå, grov
- rålacking tact or taste
- grovlacking tact or taste
- skammeliglacking tact or taste
Dutch ruw, onbewerkt
- ruwbeing in a natural state
- onbewerktbeing in a natural state
- ongeraffineerdbeing in a natural state
- onafgewerktcharacterized by simplicity
- rudimentaircharacterized by simplicity
- primitiefcharacterized by simplicity
- naaktlacking concealing elements
- ruwlacking tact or taste
- groflacking tact or taste
- smakelooslacking tact or taste
- vulgairlacking tact or taste
- ruwstatistics: in an unanalyzed form
Esperanto kruda
- krudabeing in a natural state
Estonian rohmakas, tahumatu
- rohmakascharacterized by simplicity
- tahumatucharacterized by simplicity
Finnish raaka, yksinkertainen
- raakabeing in a natural state
- yksinkertainencharacterized by simplicity
- raakalacking concealing elements
- korutonlacking concealing elements
- karkealacking tact or taste
- raakastatistics: in an unanalyzed form
- raaka aineany substance in its natural state
French cru, cru
- crubeing in a natural state
- crulacking concealing elements
- vulgairelacking tact or taste
- crulacking tact or taste
- brutstatistics: in an unanalyzed form
German roh, einfach gestrickt
- rohbeing in a natural state
- einfach gestricktcharacterized by simplicity
- schlichtcharacterized by simplicity
- grob gezimmertcharacterized by simplicity
- nacktlacking concealing elements
- purlacking concealing elements
- derblacking tact or taste
- krudelacking tact or taste
- krasslacking tact or taste
- rohlacking tact or taste
- groblacking tact or taste
- rohstatistics: in an unanalyzed form
- Rohstoffany substance in its natural state
Greek ακατέργαστος, ανεπεξέργαστος
- ακατέργαστος (akatérgastos)being in a natural state
- ανεπεξέργαστος (anepexérgastos)being in a natural state
- αδρός (adrós)characterized by simplicity
- χονδροειδής (chondroeidís)lacking concealing elements
- άξεστος (áxestos)lacking tact or taste
- ανεπεξέργαστος (anepexérgastos)statistics: in an unanalyzed form
- ακατέργαστος (akatérgastos)any substance in its natural state
- αργός (argós)any substance in its natural state
Hebrew גולמי, גולמית
- גולמי (golmí)being in a natural state
- גולמית (golmít)being in a natural state
Hindi सड़कछाप
- सड़कछाप (saṛakchāp)lacking tact or taste
Hungarian nyers, finomítatlan
- nyersbeing in a natural state
- finomítatlanbeing in a natural state
- kezdetlegescharacterized by simplicity
- durvalacking tact or taste
- faragatlanlacking tact or taste
- nyerslacking tact or taste
- nyersstatistics: in an unanalyzed form
- nyersany substance in its natural state
Irish tútach
- tútachlacking tact or taste
Italian greggio, grezzo
- greggiobeing in a natural state
- grezzobeing in a natural state
- rusticocharacterized by simplicity
- raffazzonatocharacterized by simplicity
- ovviolacking concealing elements
- crudolacking concealing elements
- volgarelacking tact or taste
- crudolacking tact or taste
- semplicelacking tact or taste
- grezzolacking tact or taste
- raffazzonatostatistics: in an unanalyzed form
- greggioany substance in its natural state
- grezzoany substance in its natural state
Latin crūdus
- crūduscharacterized by simplicity
Persian خام, خام
- خام (xâm)being in a natural state
- خام (xâm)statistics: in an unanalyzed form
Polish surowy, nieoczyszczony
- surowybeing in a natural state
- nieoczyszczonybeing in a natural state
- prymitywnycharacterized by simplicity
- nieokrzesanylacking tact or taste
Portuguese cru, bruto
- crubeing in a natural state
- brutobeing in a natural state
- rústicocharacterized by simplicity
- crulacking concealing elements
- brutolacking tact or taste
Russian необрабо́танный, сыро́й
- необрабо́танный (neobrabótannyj)being in a natural state
- сыро́й (syrój)being in a natural state
- примити́вный (primitívnyj)characterized by simplicity
- просто́й (prostój)characterized by simplicity
- про́стенький (próstenʹkij)characterized by simplicity
- я́вный (jávnyj)lacking concealing elements
- неприкры́тый (neprikrýtyj)lacking concealing elements
- гру́бый (grúbyj)lacking tact or taste
- необрабо́танный (neobrabótannyj)statistics: in an unanalyzed form
- сыро́й (syrój)statistics: in an unanalyzed form
Spanish crudo, crudo
- crudobeing in a natural state
- crudolacking concealing elements
- en brutostatistics: in an unanalyzed form
Swedish rå, grov
- råbeing in a natural state
- grovbeing in a natural state
- rå-being in a natural state
- enkelcharacterized by simplicity
- ohöljdlacking concealing elements
- oförblommeradlacking concealing elements
- grovlacking tact or taste
- plumplacking tact or taste
- oborstadlacking tact or taste
- obearbetadstatistics: in an unanalyzed form
- råstatistics: in an unanalyzed form
- råämneany substance in its natural state
Vietnamese thô
- thôbeing in a natural state
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with crude
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
crude. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crude
“crude.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crude. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “crude,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crude.
Source: crude on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.