different between coarsen vs coarse

English

Etymology

coarse +? -en

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k??(?)s?n/
• Rhymes: -??(?)s?n

Verb

coarsen (third-person singular simple present coarsens, present participle coarsening, simple past and past participle coarsened)

1. (transitive) To make (more) coarse.
   • 1941, Emily Carr, Klee Wyck, Chapter 6 "D'Sonoqua," [1]

     She appeared to be neither wooden nor stationary, but a singing spirit, young and fresh, passing through the jungle. No violence coarsened her; no power domineered to wither her. She was graciously feminine.

   • 1978, R. Z. Sheppard, "She-Wits and Funny Persons," Time, 29 February, 1978, [2]

     […] as the years went by, democracy and its wide audiences tended to broaden and coarsen humor.

2. (intransitive) To become (more) coarse.
   • 1922, F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned, "The Beating," [3]

     He was intolerable now except under the influence of liquor, and as he seemed to decay and coarsen under her eyes, Gloria's soul and body shrank away from him […]

Anagrams

• Carones, Creason, Croesan, Sarceno, canoers, carnose, corneas, earcons, narcose, sea corn, seacorn, sorance

English

Etymology

Adjectival use of course that diverged in spelling in the 18th century. The sense developed from '(following) the usual course' (cf. of course) to 'ordinary, common' to 'lacking refinement', with 'not fine, granular' arising from its application to cloth. Compare the development of mean.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kôs, IPA^(key): /k??s/
• (General American) enPR: kôrs, IPA^(key): /k???s/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) enPR: k?rs, IPA^(key): /ko(?)?s/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /ko?s/
• Rhymes: -??(?)s
• Homophone: course

Adjective

coarse (comparative coarser, superlative coarsest)

1. Composed of large parts or particles; of inferior quality or appearance; not fine in material or close in texture.
2. Lacking refinement, taste or delicacy.

   coarse manners

   coarse language

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "coarse" is often applied: language, particle, grain, graining, sand, powder, gravel, grit, salt, gold, thread, hair, cloth, grid, aggregate, texture, grass, fish, angling, fishing.

Synonyms

• (of inferior quality): thick, rough, sharp, hard
• (not refined): rough, rude, uncouth, blunt, unpolished, inelegant, indelicate, vulgar, gritty, obscene, crass

Antonyms

• (of inferior quality): fine

Derived terms

• coarsely
• coarsen
• coarseness

Translations

Further reading

• coarse in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• coarse in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• coarse at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Arceos, Rascoe, acrose, ocreas