churlish
A churlish person is one whose middle name might as well be Rude. He’s the one who was never taught to mind his manners and avoid telling vulgar jokes at the dinner table.
Churlish has its origins in late Old English, but its modern-day meaning of “deliberately rude” developed in the 14th century. It’s a fitting adjective to describe boorish or surly behavior. It can also describe a material that is difficult to work with, such as hard wood that’s resistant to quick whittling. Our prolific pal Shakespeare coined the phrase, “as valiant as the lion, churlish as the bear.”
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having a bad disposition; surly“"churlish as a bear"- Shakespeare”synonyms:ill-naturedhaving an irritable and unpleasant disposition
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rude and boorishsynonyms:ungraciouslacking charm and good taste
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Vocabulary lists containing churlish
Words selected by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionaries. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
On the New SAT, all of the Reading Test questions are multiple choice and are based on reading passages that may be taken from literature, science, the social sciences, or a US founding document (or a text inspired by such a document). Many of the reading comprehension questions meant to assess a student’s understanding of those passages will require students to choose words that best describe the writer’s tone or point of view, words like the 200 words you see on this list. Learn them here so when you see them in an SAT answer choice, you’ll know what they mean! Here are all of our word lists to help you prepare for the new SAT (debuting March of 2016): The Language of the Test, Multiple-Meaning Words, and Words to Capture Tone.
On the SAT, all of the Reading Test questions are multiple choice and are based on reading passages that may be taken from literature, science, the social sciences, or a U.S. founding document (or a text inspired by such a document). Many of the reading comprehension questions meant to assess a student’s understanding of those passages will require students to choose words that best describe the writer’s tone or point of view, words like the 25 words you see on this list. Learn them here so when you see them in an SAT answer choice, you’ll know what they mean! Following our Roadmap to the SAT? Head back to see what else you should be learning this week.