churlish

WOTD – 19 October 2007    

English

Etymology

From late Old English cierlisc (“of or pertaining to churls”), from churl +‎ -ish. Meaning "deliberately rude" is late 14c.

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈtʃɜːlɪʃ/
• (US) IPA: /ˈtʃɝːlɪʃ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)lɪʃ

Adjective

churlish (comparative more churlish, superlative most churlish)

1. of or pertaining to a serf, peasant, or rustic
2. rude, surly, ungracious
3. stingy or grudging
4. (of soil) difficult to till, lacking pliancy; unmanageable
   • 1730–1774, Oliver Goldsmith, Introductory to Switzerland

     Where the bleak Swiss their stormy mansion tread,

     And force a churlish soil for scanty bread.

Synonyms

• (of or pertaining to a serf): rustic
• (rude or surly): cross-grained, rude, surly, ungracious
• (stingy or grudging): grudging, illiberal, miserly, niggardly, stingy

Related terms

• churl
• churldom
• churled
• churlhood
• churlishly
• churlishness

Translations

of or pertaining to a serf

• Norwegian: bondsk (no)

• Spanish: paleto (es), rústico (es), bruto (es)

rude or surly

• Armenian: բռի (hy) (bṙi), անտաշ (hy) (antaš)
• Bulgarian: груб (bg) (grub)
• German: ungehobelt (de), unfreundlich (de), mürrisch (de), griesgrämig (de)
• Greek: αγροίκος (el) (agroíkos)
• Italian: villano (it)
• Korean: 야비한 (ko) (yapihan)

• Norwegian: gretten (no)
• Portuguese: rústico (pt), grosseiro (pt)
• Romanian: ursuz (ro)
• Russian: грубый (ru) (grúbyj)
• Spanish: poco afable (es), mal educado (es), grosero (es)

stingy or grudging

• Bulgarian: скъпернически (bg) (skǎperničeski)
• German: knauserig (de), widerwillig (de)

• Russian: скупой (ru) (skupój) m

(of soil) difficult to till, lacking pliancy; unmanageable

• Russian: труднообрабатываемая (почва) (trudnoobrabátyvajemaja (póčva)) f