coarse

Everyday

1. Rough and thick to touch, not smooth or fine (coarse sand, coarse cloth). tree →
2. Made of big pieces or grains, not fine ones (coarse salt, coarsely chopped). tree →
3. Rude, crude or vulgar in manners or language (coarse jokes). tree →
4. (fishing, UK) «Coarse fishing» is fishing for freshwater fish other than salmon and trout. tree →
5. A coarse voice is deep, harsh and rough-sounding, not soft or smooth. tree →

In the lessons

In science and art lessons it describes textures: coarse sandpaper, coarse grains of sand or soil. In cooking, «coarse» salt or «coarsely chopped» onion means big pieces. In stories it describes rude, rough people or language. It tells the reader about roughness, either of a surface or of manners.

Examples

• Coarse sandpaper takes off a lot of wood quickly. tree →
• The beach had coarse yellow sand. tree →
• The donkey's fur felt coarse. tree →
• Grind the pepper coarse, not fine. tree →
• The pirate told coarse jokes that made the sailors laugh. tree →
• We sieved the soil to separate coarse and fine bits. tree →
• Grandad goes coarse fishing for carp. tree →
• In a gruff, coarse voice she broke forth: tree →

Note

Comparative coarser, superlative coarsest; adverb coarsely. Homophone trap: «course» (a race course, a course of lessons, «of course») sounds exactly the same as «coarse». Coarse = rough; course = path, lessons or certainly.