uncouth

English

Etymology

From Middle English uncouth, from Old English uncūþ (“unknown; unfamiliar; strange”), from Proto-West Germanic *unkunþ, from Proto-Germanic *unkunþaz (“unknown”), equivalent to un- +‎ couth.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʌnˈkuːθ/
Audio (file)
Rhymes: -uːθ

Adjective

uncouth (comparative uncouther or more uncouth, superlative uncouthest or most uncouth)

(archaic) Unfamiliar, strange, foreign.
Antonym: (obsolete) couth
- c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene vi], lines 882-94:
  If this uncouth
  forest yield anything savage, I will either be food for it or
  bring it for food to thee.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
  The trouble of thy thoughts this night in sleep
  Affects me equally; nor can I like
  This uncouth' dream, of evil sprung I fear […]
- 1819 June 23, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “The Voyage”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number I, New York, N.Y.: […] C. S. Van Winkle, […], OCLC 1090970992, page 14:
  There was a delicious sensation of mingled security and awe with which I looked down, from my giddy height, on the monsters of the deep at their uncouth gambols.
Clumsy, awkward.
Synonym: fremd
Unrefined, crude.
Synonyms: impolite; see also Thesaurus:impolite
Antonym: couth
- 1699, Samuel Garth, The Dispensary, Canto IV, line 204:
  Harsh words, though pertinent, uncouth appear: / None please the fancy, who offend the ear.
- 2014, James Lambert, “A Much Tortured Expression: A New Look At `Hobson-Jobson'”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 27, number 1, page 58:
  If Yule found it delightful, why did Kipling find it uncouth?
- 2021 May 10, Ian Prasad Philbrick, quoting Brian Fallon, “‘We May Not Have a Full Two Years’: Democrats’ Plans Hinge on Good Health”, in The New York Times‎, ISSN 0362-4331:
  “I don’t think it’s uncouth to talk about it. I think it’s a reality that has to inform the urgency with which we approach those issues.”

Derived terms

uncouthness

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵneh₃-‎ (0 c, 47 e)

Translations

unfamiliar, strange, foreign

Bulgarian: странен (bg) (stranen)
Finnish: outo (fi), vieras (fi)
Galician: forasteiro (gl) m, foraño m, estrano m, estraio m, estanio m, alleo (gl) m
German: fremd (de), fremdartig (de), sonderbar (de)
Italian: strano (it)
Norwegian: underlig (no)
Occitan: estranh (oc)
Portuguese: estranho (pt), esquisito (pt)
Russian: необы́чный (ru) (neobýčnyj)
Swedish: underlig (sv)

clumsy, awkward

Bulgarian: непохватен (bg) (nepohvaten), недодялан (bg) (nedodjalan)
Finnish: kömpelö (fi)
Galician: tarosco m, farouteiro m, tougallo m, brután m, xounón m, teirugo m, bestello m, bascallo m, buzaco m, baldragas m, baldrocas m, baldroqueiro m, alarbe (gl) m, alarbio m
German: tölpelhaft (de), schwerfällig (de), ungeschickt (de)
Italian: goffo (it)
Norwegian: keitete, klossete
Portuguese: desajeitado (pt)
Russian: неуклю́жий (ru) (neukljúžij), нело́вкий (ru) (nelóvkij), неповоро́тливый (ru) (nepovorótlivyj)
Spanish: bruto (es), torpe (es)

unrefined, crude

Arabic: فَظّ‎ (faẓẓ)
Armenian: բռի (hy) (bṙi)
Bulgarian: груб (bg) (grub), нешлифован (bg) (nešlifovan)
Finnish: karkea (fi), tökerö, hiomaton (fi), raaka (fi), hienostumaton (fi), epähieno (fi), tahditon (fi)
French: rustre (fr) m or f
German: grobschlächtig (de), tumb (de)
Greek: άξεστος (el) m (áxestos)
Ancient: βάναυσος (bánausos)
Hungarian: faragatlan (hu), csiszolatlan (hu)
Irish: aibéiseach, amhlánta, amhchaoin
Italian: rozzo (it), grossolano (it), grezzo (it) m, squasinodeo m
Latin: horridus
Maori: mohoao, mohowao, tūhourangi, pakirara
Norwegian: ukultivert
Occitan: ruste (oc), grossièr (oc), brut (oc)
Plautdietsch: onbeschläpen, bollboarich
Portuguese: bruto (pt)
Russian: гру́бый (ru) (grúbyj), неотёсанный (neotjósannyj)
Scottish Gaelic: gràisgeil
Spanish: grosero (es), basto (es), chocarrero
Swedish: ohyfsad (sv), ofin (sv), ohövlig (sv)

Anagrams

untouch

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English uncouth, from Old English uncūþ (“unknown; unfamiliar; strange”), from Proto-West Germanic *unkunþ.

Adjective

uncouth

strange
- WEXFORD THREE HUNDRED YEARS AGO., line 9.
  estraunge, uncouth;

References

Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 120