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as in raw
being such as found in nature and not altered by processing or refining a sizable spill of crude oil along a coastline is the worst kind of environmental disaster

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective crude differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of crude are raw, rough, and rude. While all these words mean "lacking in social refinement," crude may apply to thought or behavior limited to the gross, the obvious, or the primitive.

a crude joke

When could raw be used to replace crude?

In some situations, the words raw and crude are roughly equivalent. However, raw suggests being untested, inexperienced, or unfinished.

turning raw youths into polished performers

When would rough be a good substitute for crude?

The words rough and crude can be used in similar contexts, but rough is likely to stress lack of polish and gentleness.

rough manners

When might rude be a better fit than crude?

The synonyms rude and crude are sometimes interchangeable, but rude implies ignorance of or indifference to good form; it may suggest intentional discourtesy.

rude behavior

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of crude Russia has managed to relieve some of the pressure of oil sanctions by selling crude oil to third countries, such as India, which is then purchased as refined oil products from these nations by Western countries, Liuhto said. Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Apr. 2025 The cause of the rupture and the volume of crude oil spilled was not immediately available. Kerry Breen, CBS News, 8 Apr. 2025 More so, because bearish sentiment was already well entrenched in world’s crude markets before the latest events unfolded. Gaurav Sharma, Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 2025 The price of crude oil tumbled to its lowest level since 2021. Elaine Kurtenbach, Los Angeles Times, 7 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for crude
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crude
Adjective
  • On an island with just a few hundred residents, where every road leads straight to the coast, the luxury lies in its natural beauty, raw, wild, and unchanged in its expansiveness.
    Carley Rojas Avila, Travel + Leisure, 20 Apr. 2025
  • Their music combines raw, percussive energy with elements of traditional Congolese rhythms, noise and avant-garde experimentation.
    Joanne Shurvell, Forbes.com, 19 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Houde said these mammoth animals are a primitive group of proboscideans ('elephantoids') from which modern elephants evolved.
    Joseph J. Kolb, Fox News, 18 July 2017
  • Many are primitive and remote, and don’t have restrooms or water.
    OregonLive.com, OregonLive.com, 12 July 2017
Adjective
  • The Europeans were enchanted by the expressive fluency that the New York critics had considered vulgar.
    David Denby, The Atlantic, 1 Apr. 2025
  • The chief spoke at the LAPD’s Police Commission weekly meeting Tuesday, a day after news broke that officers from the department’s recruitment and employment division had been unknowingly recorded making vulgar comments, including while talking about police applicants.
    Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Those other countries don’t seem to have the same proportion of crass blowhards in their political structure as the U.S.
    Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 2 Apr. 2025
  • Slipshod, crass, and sick, these jokes, dialling in from abroad and at home, were distinct from the humor that had followed other U.S. catastrophes.
    Lauren Michele Jackson, The New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Raw also advertised Bayley challenging Lyra Valkyria for the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship, Penta vs. Dominik Mysterio and the world’s most clumsy GM Adam Pearce making his next fumble of the worst storyline going this WrestleMania season between Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair and Iyo Sky.
    Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 2025
  • This is why the Trump administration’s DOGE exercise — while clumsy at times — is such an important endeavor despite Democratic efforts to discredit it.
    Editorial, Boston Herald, 4 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • While poaching and a loss of natural prey also contribute to the snow leopard’s decline, communities are working to foster peaceful coexistence between herders and wildlife.
    Troy Aidan Sambajon, Christian Science Monitor, 14 Apr. 2025
  • The tool's natural heft guides you toward the right amount of massaging pressure, making for more effective acupressure every time.
    Allure, Allure, 14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Instead of making something miraculous out of rudimentary materials, Government Cheese has a pantry of fine ingredients but never puts together anything palatable.
    Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 15 Apr. 2025
  • This enables the system to plan novel action sequences to achieve specified goals—a rudimentary form of reasoning and planning.
    Jason D. Greenblatt, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Deputies found and arrested Betancourt, who was sentenced March 21 to six years and eight months in state prison for felony child abuse causing injury, felony domestic violence, witness intimidation, and possession of obscene matter depicting persons under age 18 engaged in lewd conduct.
    Bay City News Service, Mercury News, 13 Apr. 2025
  • Lovable, charming and generous, yet temperamental, arrogant and obscene.
    Matthew Carey, Deadline, 11 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Crude.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crude. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.

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