1
as in raw
being such as found in nature and not altered by processing or refining
a sizable spill of crude oil along a coastline is the worst kind of environmental disaster
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2
as in primitive
belonging to or characteristic of an early level of skill or development
the crude stone tools that those prehistoric peoples used
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3
as in vulgar
depicting or referring to sexual matters in a way that is unacceptable in polite society
crude jokes can be considered sexual harassment
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4
as in crass
lacking in refinement or good taste
any discussion of one's money is considered crude by the club's blue-blooded members
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5
as in clumsy
hastily or roughly constructed
a crude hut that was constructed by some shipwrecked sailors
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crude
Adjective
-
Cats become infected by eating raw meat, birds, mice or contaminated soil, and only cats that are actively shedding parasites in their stool can spread it.—
Dr. Megan Yanny,
Boston Herald,
31 May 2026 -
Now, his family is suing the restaurant chain, as well as the manufacturer that supplied the raw ground beef kofta.—
Andrea Flores,
Los Angeles Times,
31 May 2026
Adjective
-
Campsites The park has two primitive (no hookups) campsites—one in each of the two main units.—
Julia Sayers Gokhale,
Midwest Living,
1 June 2026
-
Most subsea drones can only trade sparse, primitive status blips.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
1 June 2026
Adjective
-
Her husband says that's a very vulgar pet.—
Danielle Parker,
CBS News,
28 May 2026
-
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s biographer Andrew Lownie shared a vulgar pickup line that the former prince allegedly used while trying to pick up women.—
Rachel Burchfield,
InStyle,
28 May 2026
Adjective
-
But those efforts did their part to contribute to the overall sense of the Cannes Film Festival as the center of the moviegoing world for 11 days in May, somewhere where crass corporate product lived alongside uncompromising arthouse efforts in a broad-spectrum display of what constitutes cinema.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
27 May 2026
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Directed by Nicolas Athane and Marco Nguyen, Jim Queen is a crass, profane, giddily stupid romp through a heap of stereotypes about gay life in Paris.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
17 May 2026
Adjective
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But a clumsy tackle and a penalty shootout later, and Arsenal left Budapest with nothing.—
Ben Church,
CNN Money,
30 May 2026
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Once in the water, where crocodiles have the home-ground advantage, large mammals become clumsy, oxygen-limited and vulnerable to rotational forces they are poorly equipped to resist.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
Adjective
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So began the journey to create a hideaway resort sensitive to the natural environment and a marine reserve with the aim to recover the coral reefs damaged by dynamite fishing.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
3 June 2026
-
Whether bright red, jet black or a shade in between, natural hair color is determined by how much melanin is in your hair.—
Kathleen Felton,
Washington Post,
3 June 2026
Adjective
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Charley can read but can’t write well, his fine motor skills rudimentary.—
Chris Jones,
The Atlantic,
26 May 2026
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Each blip from his Korg MS-20 synthesizer resolves like an individual pixel on a rudimentary PC monitor, fitting for a track that dropped at the dawn of mass peer-to-peer file sharing.—
Walden Green,
Pitchfork,
23 May 2026
Adjective
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That’s enough to send Tom over the edge, screaming at his boss about how his obscene hobby doesn’t give him any idea what war is really like.—
Scott Tobias,
Vulture,
24 May 2026
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Russian authorities continue to pay obscene sums for those willing to sign up.—
Daniel DePetris,
Mercury News,
23 May 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Crude.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crude. Accessed 3 Jun. 2026.
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