churlish

adjective

ˈchər-lish How to pronounce churlish (audio)
Definition of churlishnext
as in boorish
having or showing crudely insensitive or impolite manners it would be churlish for any dinner guest to express anything but gratitude for his host's generous hospitality

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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How does the adjective churlish differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of churlish are boorish, clownish, and loutish. While all these words mean "uncouth in manners or appearance," churlish suggests surliness, unresponsiveness, and ungraciousness.

churlish remarks

When can boorish be used instead of churlish?

Although the words boorish and churlish have much in common, boorish implies rudeness of manner due to insensitiveness to others' feelings and unwillingness to be agreeable.

a drunk's boorish behavior

When might clownish be a better fit than churlish?

In some situations, the words clownish and churlish are roughly equivalent. However, clownish suggests ill-bred awkwardness, ignorance or stupidity, ungainliness, and often a propensity for absurd antics.

an adolescent's clownish conduct

In what contexts can loutish take the place of churlish?

The synonyms loutish and churlish are sometimes interchangeable, but loutish implies bodily awkwardness together with stupidity.

a loutish oaf

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of churlish Most of that action is on the Democratic side and the sniping is getting downright churlish as we near the March 17 primary elections. — Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 9 Mar. 2026 Kay hasn’t acted since before Marty was born, and Marty never breaks character — they were made for a churlish May-December affair that unlocks something in them both. — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 1 Dec. 2025 Still, The Thursday Murder Club is so good-natured, and so gorgeous to look at, that to carp about it just seems churlish. — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 22 Aug. 2025 The pure of heart among you may recoil at the notion that anyone would sow brutish chaos, hurt vulnerable people and throw any semblance of democracy under the bus for a churlish, vicious distraction. — Pat Beall, Sun Sentinel, 14 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for churlish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for churlish
  1. boorish
  2. uncouth
  3. loutish
  4. stupid
  5. clownish
  6. classless
  7. rude
  8. vulgar
Adjective
  • The most surprising appearance of all, however, is that of longtime media executive Jeff Zucker, tearing into a boorish version of himself.
    — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2026
  • The poem tells us of 12 slave girls who sleep with Penelope’s boorish suitors.
    — Natasha O'Neill, Vanity Fair, 16 July 2026
Definition of boorish
Adjective
  • People had used rude words on television before, but never in such uncouth tones as Lydon and Jones in a regional ITV interview on 1 December 1976.
    — The Week UK, TheWeek, 23 Aug. 2026
  • His gruff mechanic Cooter Davenport is introduced as a hell-raising, uncouth wild man, constantly taunting the authorities and flouting convention.
    — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of uncouth
Adjective
  • Oasis’s loutish laddishness represented all the worst bits of modern Britain.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Meanwhile, the palace has been besieged by loutish suitors, led by the scheming Antinous (Robert Pattinson), all of them vying for the queen’s hand in remarriage and mooching off the absent king’s food and wine.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 17 July 2026
Definition of loutish
Adjective
  • Trump’s super intelligence rebrand can ultimately be read in a couple ways, though arguably neither are particularly nuanced or incisive — just further indicative of the daily deluge of stupid.
    — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Once upon a time, the idea that the world was growing stupider was mostly confined to the realm of dyspeptic reactionary polemic.
    — James Marriott, Washington Post, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of stupid
Adjective
  • Though Lyons’s clownish sensibilities are central to The Woman on the Edge, the show isn’t purely clown, integrating other forms and techniques, from contemporary dance to film reenactment.
    — Georgie McKeon, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026
  • This is our introduction to He and She, two clownish, pugilistic lovers who are locked in a war of words, even as a literal war rages outside.
    — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of clownish
Adjective
  • But the tournament will also be remembered for a classless and churlish Argentina, which forever stained itself with a thuggish performance in the game and an ungracious one afterward.
    — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 21 July 2026
  • The harmful framing of women athletes as vulnerable and Black women athletes as overly aggressive and classless has been well-established across studies.
    — Lindsey Darvin, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
Definition of classless
Adjective
  • Painfully aware of this, Shawn waited for one of the drunk old men to comment, heckle, make one of those incomprehensible jokes that drew rude laughter from adults.
    — Rachel Heng, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
  • By the same token, French-style discretion can be interpreted by American visitors as inattentive and rude.
    — CNN Money, CNN Money, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of rude
Adjective
  • The woman's attorneys argued that the decision wrongly gives school officials wide latitude to squelch political speech based on their personal ideas of what is vulgar.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 5 Oct. 2026
  • There were fraternity brothers exchanging vulgar messages about the accuseron Snapchat, echoing what Willis says happened after she herself was assaulted in 2014.
    — Joanna Slater, Washington Post, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of vulgar

Browse Nearby Words

churl
churlish
churlishness
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Cite this Entry

“Churlish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/churlish. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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