boorish · adj — behaving as a boor; rough in manners. It carries an Arena rating of 1479, earned across 9 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, boorish ranks #1,362 of 17,188 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #5,529 of 17,162 for Most Elegant Words, #6,675 of 17,197 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #7,392 of 17,146 for Most Storied Words.
boorish is pronounced /ˈbʊəɹɪʃ/.
Why “boorish” is a great word
Behaving in a rude, insensitive, or ill-mannered way, evoking the graceless comportment of a peasant. From 'boor' (from Middle Dutch 'boer' or Middle Low German 'būr', meaning "farmer, peasant") + the adjectival suffix '-ish'. Unlike 'churlish,' which implies a surly, mean-spirited ill-humor, or 'uncouth,' which emphasizes a mere lack of polish, boorishness is a performance of deliberate, aggressive insensitivity. It is the loud, unchecked belch in a quiet room, the muddy boot planted on the velvet cushion, and the unapologetic interruption that silences all other voices—the prideful assertion that one’s own coarse comfort is the only standard that matters, leaving in its wake a stunned and diminished world.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From boor + -ish.
adj
- Behaving as a boor; rough in manners.e.g.“May Week. . . . As in every year, that infamous week was dragging its boorish heels with remarkable infestivity.” — 1989, Robert McLiam Wilson, Ripley Bogle, Arcade, published 1998, →ISBN, page 256:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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