Crass
/kræs/noun
Lacking sensitivity, refinement, or intelligence.
Did you know?Crass comes from Latin *crassus*, meaning “thick” or “coarse,” and its semantic shift shows how languages turn physical density into moral condemnation.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kreh₂-
“to be thick, solid, or grow dense”
Latin
Latin
crassus
“thick, dense, coarse, gross”
Late Latin
Latin
crassus
“coarse, stupid, vulgar”
Middle French
French
crasse
“coarseness; filth; grease”
16th Century
English
crass
“coarse, thick, gross; later, insensitive or vulgar”
Modern English
English
crass
“lacking sensitivity, refinement, or intelligence”