First Known Use: circa 1625
Dictionary
crass
adjective \ˈkras\
: having or showing no understanding of what is proper or acceptable : rude and insensitive
Full Definition of CRASS
1
2
: guided by or indicative of base or materialistic values <crass commercialism> <crass measures of success>
— crass·ly adverb
— crass·ness noun
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Examples of CRASS
- Minor criticism though it was compared to the rest, the most galling calumny of all as far as Gaius Marius was concerned was the perpetual inference that he was unacceptably crass because he had no Greek. —Colleen McCullough, The First Man in Rome, (1990) 1991
- He had removed her from that crass monied Middle Atlantic society where she had seemed stilted and fragile. —John Updike, Couples, 1968
- We are urgently in need of progress, but not if it means the kind of crass complacency that ignores the fact that history for most men and women to date has meant misery and fruitless toil … —Terry Eagleton, Harper's, March 2005
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Origin of CRASS
Latin crassus thick, gross
Related to CRASS
- Synonyms
- common, coarse, crude, gross, ill-bred, illiberal [archaic], incult, insensible, low, lowbred, lowbrow, raffish, rough, rough-hewn, roughneck, rude, rugged, tasteless, uncouth, uncultivated, uncultured, unpolished, unrefined, vulgar
- Antonyms
- civilized, cultivated, cultured, genteel, polished, refined, smooth, tasteful, ultrarefined, well-bred
Synonym Discussion of CRASS
stupid, dull, dense, crass, dumb mean lacking in power to absorb ideas or impressions. stupid implies a slow-witted or dazed state of mind that may be either congenital or temporary <stupid students just keeping the seats warm> <stupid with drink>. dull suggests a slow or sluggish mind such as results from disease, depression, or shock <monotonous work that leaves the mind dull>. dense implies a thickheaded imperviousness to ideas <too dense to take a hint>. crass suggests a grossness of mind precluding discrimination or delicacy <a crass, materialistic people>. dumb applies to an exasperating obtuseness or lack of comprehension <too dumb to figure out what's going on>.
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