crude

1 of 2

adjective

cruder; crudest
1
: marked by the primitive, gross, or elemental or by uncultivated simplicity or vulgarity
a crude stereotype
crude tools
crude jokes
2
: existing in a natural state and unaltered by cooking or processing
crude oil
crude ore
3
: rough or inexpert in plan or execution
a crude shelter
4
: lacking a covering, glossing, or concealing element : obvious
crude facts
5
: tabulated without being broken down into classes
the crude death rate
6
archaic : unripe, immature
crudely adverb
crudeness noun

crude

2 of 2

noun

: a substance in its natural unprocessed state
especially : unrefined petroleum
Choose the Right Synonym for crude

rude, rough, crude, raw mean lacking in social refinement.

rude implies ignorance of or indifference to good form; it may suggest intentional discourtesy.

rude behavior

rough is likely to stress lack of polish and gentleness.

rough manners

crude may apply to thought or behavior limited to the gross, the obvious, or the primitive.

a crude joke

raw suggests being untested, inexperienced, or unfinished.

turning raw youths into polished performers

Examples of crude in a Sentence

Adjective They built a crude shelter out of branches. a crude summary of the country's history She first described the procedure in crude terms, and then went into more detail.
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Engineers sue Elon Musk and SpaceX, saying the company mirrored his juvenile, crude X posts. Defne Karabatur, Los Angeles Times, 13 June 2024 Oil prices have come down since initial spikes from both wars, with the price of international crude futures settling at $82.60 a barrel on Wednesday. Krystal Hur, CNN, 13 June 2024
Noun
But the price of Brent crude, the global benchmark, didn’t increase. David Ignatius, Washington Post, 18 June 2024 Pricing oil also varies a lot—earlier this week, both oil indexes, Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate, rose amid reports that oil production would climb later this year. Paolo Confino, Fortune Europe, 13 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for crude 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'crude.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective and Noun

Middle English, from Latin crudus raw, crude, undigested — more at raw

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Noun

circa 1904, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of crude was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near crude

Cite this Entry

“Crude.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crude. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.

Kids Definition

crude

1 of 2 adjective
cruder; crudest
1
: being in a natural state and not changed by cooking or refining : raw
crude oil
2
: not having or showing good manners : vulgar
3
: planned or done in a rough or unskilled way
a crude drawing
crudely adverb
crudeness noun

crude

2 of 2 noun
: crude oil

More from Merriam-Webster on crude

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