uncouth

Etymology

From Middle English uncouth, from Old English uncūþ (“unknown; unfamiliar; strange”), from Proto-West Germanic *unkunþ, from Proto-Germanic *unkunþaz (“unknown”), equivalent to un- + couth. The modern pronunciation does not show /aʊ/, the usual development of the Middle English vowel from the Great Vowel Shift. It is usually explained as a pronunciation taken from Northern English dialects, which did not undergo the diphthongization of the vowel.

adj

1. (archaic) Unfamiliar, strange, foreign.
2. Clumsy, awkward.
3. Unrefined, crude.
   Harsh words, though pertinent, uncouth appear: / None please the fancy, who offend the ear. 1699, Samuel Garth, The Dispensary, Canto IV, line 204
   If Yule found it delightful, why did Kipling find it uncouth? 2014, James Lambert, “A Much Tortured Expression: A New Look At `Hobson-Jobson'”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 27, number 1, page 58
   I don’t think it’s uncouth to talk about it. I think it’s a reality that has to inform the urgency with which we approach those issues. 2021-05-10, Ian Prasad Philbrick, quoting Brian Fallon, “‘We May Not Have a Full Two Years’: Democrats’ Plans Hinge on Good Health”, in The New York Times, →ISSN