1
as in rudeness
the quality or state of lacking refinement or good taste
our cousins' general vulgarity and poor manners irritate my mother
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in grossness
the quality or state of being obscene
the pointless vulgarity of the joke disgusted her
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of vulgarity
It is hoped that political ad campaigns would aim to lessen the meanness and divisiveness and vulgarity that have damaged our democracy.
—
Chicago Tribune, 25 Feb. 2026
Former President Richard Nixon proved himself no slouch in the vulgarity department after reaching the White House in 1969.
—Bart Jansen, USA Today, 22 Feb. 2026
One of Lamont’s unacknowledged strengths is his public composure and innate courtesy in an era when escalating vulgarity in politics shows an ugly American face to us and the world.
—Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 7 Feb. 2026
Skarsgård takes aspects of the real Kiritsis — his irrational rage and vulgarity — but gives him an inner life and depth that the real Kiritsis didn’t seem to possess.
—Mick Lasalle, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for vulgarity
Chicago Tribune, 25 Feb. 2026
Former President Richard Nixon proved himself no slouch in the vulgarity department after reaching the White House in 1969.
—Bart Jansen, USA Today, 22 Feb. 2026
One of Lamont’s unacknowledged strengths is his public composure and innate courtesy in an era when escalating vulgarity in politics shows an ugly American face to us and the world.
—Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 7 Feb. 2026
Skarsgård takes aspects of the real Kiritsis — his irrational rage and vulgarity — but gives him an inner life and depth that the real Kiritsis didn’t seem to possess.
—Mick Lasalle, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for vulgarity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vulgarity
Noun
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Comprising classmates Nilsson, Nutt, James Falconer, Suellen Rocca, Art Green, and Karl Wirsum, the Who held their first exhibition at Chicago’s Hyde Park Art Center in 1966, ushering a new mode of dank, bawdy rudeness into the city’s milieu.—
Jeremy Lybarger,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
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But these days civility, much like rudeness, can ride a stream of shares and retweets to the far corners of the world.—
Bobby Ghosh,
Time,
1 June 2026
Noun
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There are no great surprises from here on out, though the sheer, lusty grossness of the fallout is occasionally startling.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
16 Apr. 2026
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If an exclamation point only signified gore and grossness, this gothic rock opera would more than qualify.—
Rachel Simon,
Vulture,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
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There’s some rudeness, aggressive conversations, and crudeness, but nothing too over the top.—
Lynnette Nicholas,
Parents,
4 Aug. 2025
Noun
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That feeling stops, however, when pulling into gas stations or parking lots, where the length and lowness of the car require extreme care to keep the chin from scraping.—
Byron Hurd,
The Drive,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
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While the council remained inside to finish the meeting, including approving a local emergency declaration, police were outside where a small mob gathered, yelling obscenities at the officers.—
Victoria Le,
Oc Register,
27 May 2026
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Across the state, officers directed obscenities, insults and threats at students just before or after using physical force, records and video footage show.—
Clare Amari,
New York Times,
27 May 2026
Noun
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But even something about this roughness seems, in its way, right.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
20 May 2026
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That means that one in every 17 miles of Idaho roads studied scored poor on the roughness index.—
Rose Evans
May 11,
Idaho Statesman,
11 May 2026
Noun
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The other funnymen of the time—Milton Berle with his lewd suggestiveness, Jackie Gleason with his baleful roar—did the same shtick over and over.—
David Denby,
New Yorker,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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But many seemingly urbane texts also benefited from the intellectual and moral coarseness of their times.—
Christine Smallwood,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Mar. 2026
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The term plant texture refers to the fineness or coarseness, roughness or smoothness, heaviness or lightness of a particular plant.—
David Beaulieu,
The Spruce,
15 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Vulgarity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vulgarity. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026.
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