rude
adjective
Simple meaning
Lacking civility or good manners.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
roodIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹud
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Lacking civility or good manners
Lacking in refinement or civility; bad-mannered; discourteous.
Lacking refinement or skill; untaught; ignorant; raw.
Somewhat obscene, pornographic, offensive.
Undeveloped, unskilled, inelegant.
Hearty, vigorous; found particularly in the phrase rude health.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Lacking civility or good manners
Used this way, rude is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use rude
- “Karen broke up with Fred because he was often rude to her.”adjective
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Related Learning
Guides that use this word in context.
Guides
How to Disagree Without Starting an Argument
Learn natural ways to disagree without sounding rude. Explore polite disagreement phrases for everyday conversations, relationships, work, meetings and difficult discussions.
Guides
How to Tell If a Word Sounds Rude, Polite, or Neutral
Cheap, inexpensive and affordable can describe the same price and still say different things. A practical guide to connotation: how tone, context and word choice make you sound rude, polite or neutral.
Use it yourself
Knowing “rude” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.