Crude Meaning
/kɹuːd/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjIn a natural, untreated state.
adjCharacterized by simplicity, especially something not carefully or expertly made.
Sentence Examples
The method was crude, but very effective.
This is a crude material imported from Malaysia.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ oil spilled from the tanker caused an environmental disaster.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The method was ____, but very effective.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English crude, borrowed from Latin crūdus (“raw, bloody, uncooked, undigested, crude”). Doublet of crudo, from Italian. Cognate with Old English hrēaw (“raw, uncooked”) via Proto-Indo-European *krewh₂- (“raw blood”); more at raw.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"City Comedies depicted the pursuit of wealth, status, and women in Jacobean London. In a typical plot, a ne'er-do-well young gentleman dupes his older relatives out of money, while lower-class rascals play cruder tricks on respectable citizens."
— 1983, Wendy Griswold, “The Devil's Techniques: Cultural Legitimation and Social Change”, in American Sociological Review, volume 48, number 5, page 672 of 668–680:
"At first, there’s something almost disconcertingly crude about the sasquatch skins."
— 2024 June 16, Wendy Ide, “Sasquatch Sunset review – brilliant bigfoot oddity is unexpectedly moving”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
"Her mete was very crude,
She had not wel endude; […]"
— c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 63, lines 77–78:
"The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices)."
— 2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847, archived from the original on 19 Aug 2022:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ oil spilled from the tanker caused an environmental disaster.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The method was ____, but very effective.