Rude

How to spell rude

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce rude

What does rude mean?

1. adjectiveOffensively impolite or bad-mannered toward others.
2. adjectiveSudden and unpleasant, especially of a shock or jolt.

Rude in a sentence

• It was rude of him to interrupt the meeting without apologising.

• The unpaid invoice gave the new business owner a rude awakening.

• The waiter was unexpectedly rude to the elderly couple.

• The freezing rain was a rude reminder that winter had arrived.

Where does rude come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin rudis, which literally meant 'rough', 'raw', or 'unworked', the sort of adjective you would apply to uncut stone or unfinished craftsmanship. From that physical idea of something coarse and unpolished, the meaning naturally extended to people who were unrefined in manner. English borrowed it through Old French rude during the 1300s, at first describing things that were crude, primitive, or lacking skill, as in a 'rude hut' or a 'rude sketch'. Over time the social sense of bad manners and discourtesy became dominant, while the older 'rough and basic' sense survives in phrases like 'a rude awakening'. The same Latin root lies behind 'rudimentary' and 'erudite' (literally 'taught out of one's rawness'), and the spelling stays simple: just the single root plus the silent French e.

How the word is built

• rud- (from Latin rudis: rough, raw, unrefined)
• -e (silent ending carried from French)