# coarse

Pronunciation: US say "KORS" /kɔɹs/; UK say "KAWS" /kɔːs/

## Adjective

1. Rough in texture rather than smooth.
   - Simple: Feeling rough when you touch it, not smooth.
   - _The blanket was woven from coarse wool that scratched her neck._
   - _His beard had grown coarser and grayer over the winter._
2. Made up of large particles or grains rather than fine ones.
   - Simple: Made up of large grains or pieces, like some kinds of sand or flour.
   - _Mix the cement with coarse sand and gravel for the foundation._
   - _The coarser sediments settled first, leaving the fine silt on top._
3. Showing a lack of refinement, good taste, or delicacy.
   - Simple: Rough and rude, not polite or gentle in how someone acts or talks.
   - _His coarse jokes made several guests at the dinner visibly uncomfortable._
   - _Critics found the film's humor coarser than anything the director had made before._
4. Of low or inferior quality.
   - Simple: Of poor quality, not very good.
   - _Prisoners lived on coarse fare: thin soup, hard bread, and the odd potato._
   - _The tavern poured the coarsest wine on the coast, sour and cheap._

## Adjective

5. Of a metal, still in an unrefined state. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Of metal, not yet made pure.
   - _The smiths melted down the coarse silver and skimmed off the dross._
   - _Wagons carried the coarse lead from the mine to the refinery downriver._

## Origin

An adjectival use of course whose spelling split off in the 18th century. The meaning moved from "(following) the usual course", as in of course, to "ordinary, common" and then "lacking refinement"; the sense "not fine, granular" came from its use about cloth. Compare how mean developed.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/coarse (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).