Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive & intransitive verb To make or become coarse.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To render coarse or coarser, in any sense; especially, make unrefined or inelegant; make rude or vulgar: as, to coarsen one's nature.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb rare To make coarse or vulgar.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To make more coarse.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb make less subtle or refined
  • verb make or become coarse or coarser

Etymologies

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Examples

  • One cannot coarsen what has ALREADY been coarsened by the left. .nt

    “Coarsening.” - Moe_Lane’s blog - RedState 2009

  •  The bird's silky down began to coarsen and fray, and its beak began to harden and grow.

    Old Egg Mark Cecil Stevens 2010

  • Their disdain for traditional morals will coarsen our culture.

    The Obama Diaries Laura Ingraham 2010

  • Their disdain for traditional morals will coarsen our culture.

    The Obama Diaries Laura Ingraham 2010

  • Their disdain for traditional morals will coarsen our culture.

    The Obama Diaries Laura Ingraham 2010

  • But it is shaping up to be more of a test stateside, where attitudes against China continue to coarsen as unemployment stays stubbornly high and politicians complain about China taking U.S. jobs, if not U.S. pride.

    A GM Unit in China Dennis K. Berman 2010

  • Their disdain for traditional morals will coarsen our culture.

    The Obama Diaries Laura Ingraham 2010

  • There is some public shaming of people who openly espouse hateful speech -- but a ratings chase and a revenue chase combine to coarsen the debate.

    Christine Pelosi: If "We the People" Can't Agree on "Our" President, Is there Any Hope for Us? 2009

  • Without a humanizing tory influence, conservatives were apt to forget "the ugly face of capitalism" — the way that the market tends to coarsen and destabilize society, making the gross national product fodder for our "gross national appetite."

    Reagan Was Wrong 2009

  • They were coming into the market 30-odd years later 1962 and at that time, the Model 70 was the baseline, but they saw an opening because they knew that Winchester was planning an upgrade that would ease manufacture but coarsen the product.

    A Bob Lee Swagger eBook Boxed Set Stephen Hunter 2009

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