vulgar

See also vulgär, and vulgær

English

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin vulgāris, from volgus, vulgus (“mob; common folk”), from Proto-Indo-European *wl̥k- (compare Welsh gwala (“plenty, sufficiency”), Ancient Greek ἁλία (halia, “assembly”) εἰλέω (eileō, “ to compress”), Old Church Slavonic вєликъ (velikŭ, “great”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈvʌl.ɡə/
• (US) IPA: /ˈvʌl.ɡɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

vulgar (comparative vulgarer or more vulgar, superlative vulgarest or most vulgar)

1. Debased, uncouth, distasteful, obscene.
   • 1551, James A.H. Murray editor, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles: Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by the Philological Society.^[1], volume 1, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1888, Part 1, page 217:

     Also the rule of false position, with dyuers examples not onely vulgar, but some appertaynyng to the rule of Algeber.

   • The construction worker made a vulgar suggestion to the girls walking down the street.
2. (classical sense) Having to do with ordinary, common people.
   • 1860, G. Syffarth, "A Remarkable Seal in Dr. Abbott's Museum at New York", Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis‎, age 265

     Further, the same sacred name in other monuments precedes the vulgar name of King Takellothis, the sixth of the XXII. Dyn., as we have seen.

Synonyms

• (obscene): inappropriate, obscene, debased, uncouth, offensive
• (ordinary): common, ordinary, popular

Derived terms

• (obscene): vulgarity
• (ordinary): vulgar fraction, vulgate, Vulgate
• vulgar fraction

Translations

obscene

• Afrikaans: onbeskaaf (af), ongepoets (af), platvloers (af), vulgêr (af)
• Armenian: կոպիտ (hy) (kopit)
• Catalan: vulgar (ca) m and f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鄙俗 (cmn) (bǐsú), 粗俗 (cmn) (cūsú)

• Danish: vulgær (da), (dated) obskøn (da), uanstændig (da)
• Dutch: vulgair (nl), obsceen (nl), smakeloos (nl), ruw (nl), ordinair (nl)
• Esperanto: triviala (eo)
• Finnish: rivo (fi), vulgaari, alatyylinen (linguistics), sivistymätön (fi)
• French: vulgaire (fr) m and f, obscène (fr) m and f
• German: vulgär (de), unfein (de), ungebildet (de), unanständig (de), ungehobelt (de), vulgärsprachlich (de)
• Greek: χυδαίος (el) (khideos) m, πρόστυχος (el) (prostikhos) m, αγοραίος (el) (agoreos) m

• Hungarian: közönséges (hu), otromba (hu), durva (hu), trágár (hu), vulgáris (hu)
• Japanese: 卑しい (ja) (いやしい, iyashii)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: vulgær (nb)

  Nynorsk: vulgær (nn)

• Persian: رکيک (fa) (rakik), مبتذل (fa) (mobtazal)
• Polish: obsceniczny (pl) m
• Portuguese: vulgar (pt) m and f, obsceno (pt) m, indecente (pt) m and f
• Romanian: obscen (ro) m and n, vulgar (ro) m and n
• Russian: вульгарный (ru) (vul'gárnyj), непристойный (ru) (nepristójnyj), неприличный (ru) (neprilíčnyj), пошлый (ru) (póšlyj)
• Spanish: vulgar (es)
• Swedish: vulgär (sv)
• Turkish: kaba (tr)

having to do with common people

• Afrikaans: volks (af), gewoon (af), algemeen (af)
• Danish: vulgær (da), simpel (da), ordinær (da), (dated) gemen (da)
• Dutch: volks (nl), gewoon (nl), gemeen (nl), ordinair (nl)
• Esperanto: vulgara (eo)
• Finnish: kansanomainen (fi), rahvaanomainen (fi)
• Galician: vulgar (gl)
• German: allgemein (de), ordinär (de), vulgär (de), vulgärsprachlich (de), Volks- (de), volkstümlich (de), gemein (de), gewöhnlich (de)

• Greek: κοινός (el) (kinos) m
• Portuguese: vulgar (pt) m and f, popular (pt) m and f, comum (pt) m and f
• Romanian: grosolan (ro) m and n, comun (ro) m and n, ordinar (ro) m and n, ordinară f
• Russian: простонародный (ru) (prostonarodnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: gràisgeil (gd)
• Spanish: vulgar (es)
• Swedish: vulgär (sv), pöbel- (sv), pöbelaktig (sv), gemen (sv)

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Galician

Etymology

From Latin vulgāris.

Adjective

vulgar m and f (plural vulgares)

1. common to the people, vulgar
2. ordinary, undistinguished
3. popular, commonly understood, as opposed to scientific or technical
4. simple, unintelligent

Synonyms

• (ordinary): prosaico
• (popular): común, popular

Antonyms

• (popular): científico, técnico

Related terms

• vulgaridade
• vulgarismo
• vulgo

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin vulgāris.

Adjective

vulgar m and f (plural vulgares; comparable)

1. common to the people, vulgar
2. ordinary, undistinguished
3. popular, commonly understood, as opposed to scientific or technical
4. simple, unintelligent

Synonyms

• (ordinary): prosaico
• (popular): comum, popular

Antonyms

• (popular): científico, técnico

Related terms

• vulgaridade
• vulgarismo
• vulgo

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Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French vulgaire, Latin vulgaris.

Adjective

vulgar ^{mn nom/acc forms}

1. vulgar

Synonyms

• grosolan
• ordinar
• comun

Declension

declension of vulgar

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	vulgar		vulgară	vulgari	vulgare
	definite	vulgarul		vulgara	vulgarii	vulgarele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	vulgar		vulgare	vulgari	vulgare
	definite	vulgarului		vulgarei	vulgarilor	vulgarelor

Related terms

• vulg

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin vulgāris.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bulˈɡaɾ/, X-SAMPA: /bul"ga4/

Adjective

vulgar m and f (plural vulgares)

1. vulgar

Related terms

• vulgo
• vulgaridad