Rude (?), a. [Compar.
Ruder (?); superl. Rudest.] [F., fr.
L. rudis.] 1. Characterized by roughness;
umpolished; raw; lacking delicacy or refinement; coarse.
Such gardening tools as art, yet rude, . . . had
formed.
Milton.
2. Hence, specifically: (a)
Unformed by taste or skill; not nicely finished; not smoothed or
polished; -- said especially of material things; as, rude
workmanship. "Rude was the cloth." Chaucer.
Rude and unpolished stones.
Bp.
Stillingfleet.
The heaven-born child
All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies.
Milton.
(b) Of untaught manners; unpolished; of low
rank; uncivil; clownish; ignorant; raw; unskillful; -- said of
persons, or of conduct, skill, and the like. "Mine ancestors
were rude."
Chaucer.
He was but rude in the profession of
arms.
Sir H. Wotton.
the rude forefathers of the hamlet
sleep.
Gray.
(c) Violent; tumultuous; boisterous;
inclement; harsh; severe; -- said of the weather, of storms, and the
like; as, the rude winter.
[Clouds] pushed with winds, rude in their
shock.
Milton.
The rude agitation [of water] breaks it into
foam.
Boyle.
(d) Barbarous; fierce; bloody; impetuous; --
said of war, conflict, and the like; as, the rude shock of
armies. (e) Not finished or complete;
inelegant; lacking chasteness or elegance; not in good taste;
unsatisfactory in mode of treatment; -- said of literature, language,
style, and the like. "The rude Irish books."
Spenser.
Rude am I in my speech.
Shak.
Unblemished by my rude translation.
Dryden.
Syn. -- Impertinent; rough; uneven; shapeless; unfashioned;
rugged; artless; unpolished; uncouth; inelegant; rustic; coarse;
vulgar; clownish; raw; unskillful; untaught; illiterate; ignorant;
uncivil; impolite; saucy; impudent; insolent; surly; currish;
churlish; brutal; uncivilized; barbarous; savage; violent; fierce;
tumultuous; turbulent; impetuous; boisterous; harsh; inclement;
severe. See Impertiment.
-- Rude"ly (#), adv. --
Rude"ness, n.