Etymology : Middle English, from Latin vulgaris of the mob, vulgar, from volgus, vulgus mob, common people
Pronunciation : 'v&l-g&r
Function : adjective
Date : 14th century
1. uncouth, indecent; lacking in taste; vernacular; ordinary; offensively gaudy. vulgar\vul"gar\, n. [cf. f. vulgaire.].
2. one of the common people; a vulgar person. [obs.] these vile vulgars are extremely proud.
3. the vernacular, or common language. [obs.]vulgar \vul"gar\ , a. [l. vulgaris, from vulgus the multitude, the common people; of uncertain origin: cf. f. vulgaire. cf. divulge.].
4. of or pertaining to the mass, or multitude, of people; common; general; ordinary; public; hence, in general use; vernacular. "as common as any the most vulgar thing to sense. " -- shak. things vulgar, and well-weighed, scarce worth the praise. it might be more useful to the english reader to write in our vulgar language. fell. the mechanical process of multiplying books had brought the new testament in the vulgar tongue within the reach of every class.
5. belonging or relating to the common people, as distinguished from the cultivated or educated; pertaining to common life; plebeian; not select or distinguished; hence, sometimes, of little or no value. "like the vulgar sort of market men." men who have passed all their time in low and vulgar life. in reading an account of a battle, we follow the hero with our whole attention, but seldom reflect on the vulgar heaps of slaughter. --rambler.
6. hence, lacking cultivation or refinement; rustic; boorish; also, offensive to good taste or refined feelings; low; coarse; mean; base; as, vulgar men, minds, language, or manners. be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.vulgar fraction. (arith.) see:
under fraction.vulgar adj.
7. lacking refinement or cultivation or taste; "he had coarse manners but a first-rate mind"; "behavior that branded him as common"; "an untutored and uncouth human being"; "an uncouth soldier--a real tough guy"; "appealing to the vulgar taste for violence"; "the vulgar display of the newly rich" [syn: coarse, common, uncouth].
8. of or associated with the great masses of people; "the common people in those days suffered greatly"; "behavior that branded him as common"; "his square plebeian nose"; "a vulgar and objectionable person"; "the unwashed masses" [syn: common, plebeian, unwashed].
9. being or characteristic of or appropriate to everyday language; "common parlance"; "a vernacular term"; "vernacular speakers"; "the vulgar tongue of the masses"; "the technical and vulgar names for an animal species" [syn: common, vernacular].
10. conspicuously and tastelessly indecent; "coarse language"; "a crude joke"; "crude behavior"; "an earthy sense of humor"; "a revoltingly gross expletive"; "a vulgar gesture"; "full of language so vulgar it should have been edited" [syn: coarse, crude, earthy, gross].
11. Of or pertaining to the mass, or multitude, of people; common; general; ordinary; public; hence, in general use; vernacular.
12. Belonging or relating to the common people, as distinguished from the cultivated or educated; pertaining to common life; plebeian; not select or distinguished; hence, sometimes, of little or no value.
13. Hence, lacking cultivation or refinement; rustic; boorish; also, offensive to good taste or refined feelings; low; coarse; mean; base; as, vulgar men, minds, language, or manners.
14. One of the common people; a vulgar person.
15. The vernacular, or common language.
16. 1. disapproval If you describe something as vulgar, you think it is in bad taste or of poor artistic quality. The film is tasteless, vulgar and even badly shot. + vulgarity vul·gar·ity I hate the vulgarity of this room.
17. disapproval If you describe pictures, gestures, or remarks as vulgar, you dislike them because they refer to sex or parts of the body in a rude way that you find unpleasant. The women laughed coarsely at some vulgar jokes The lyrics were vulgar. + vulgarity vul·gar·ity There's a good deal of vulgarity.
18. disapproval If you describe a person or their behaviour as vulgar, you mean that they lack taste or behave rudely. He was a vulgar old man, but he never swore in front of a woman = crude + vulgarity vul·gar·ity It's his vulgarity that I can't take.