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vulgar. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
vulgar, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
vulgar in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
vulgar you have here. The definition of the word
vulgar will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English vulgare, from Latin vulgāris, from volgus, vulgus (“mob; common folk”), from Proto-Indo-European *wl̥k-. Compare Welsh gwala (“plenty, sufficiency”), Ancient Greek ἁλία (halía, “assembly”), εἰλέω (eiléō, “to compress”), Old Church Slavonic великъ (velikŭ, “great”).
Pronunciation
Adjective
vulgar (comparative more vulgar or vulgarer, superlative most vulgar or vulgarest)
- Debased, uncouth, distasteful, obscene.
vulgar language
vulgar words
a truly vulgar showing of affection
vulgar and highly distressing scenes
1551, James A.H. Murray, editor, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles: Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by the Philological Society., volume 1, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1888, Part 1, page 217:Also the rule of false position, with dyuers examples not onely vulgar, but some appertaynyng to the rule of Algeber.
2023 May 28, Robert Armstrong, “The world wobbles; the luxury industry strides on”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 21:Several years ago I interviewed the CEO of a car manufacturer whose products start in the six figures. He told me his customers could always afford to buy his cars, but in recessions they found it vulgar to do so.
- (historical or derogatory) Having to do with ordinary, common people.
1661, John Fell, The Life of Dr. Hammond:It might be more useful to the English reader […] to write in our vulgar language.
1834–1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent, volume (please specify |volume=I to X), Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company [et al.], →OCLC:The mechanical process of multiplying books had brought the New Testament in the vulgar tongue within the reach of every class.
1860, G. Syffarth, “A Remarkable Seal in Dr. Abbott's Museum at New York”, in Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, page 265:Further, the same sacred name in other monuments precedes the vulgar name of King Takellothis, the sixth of the XXII. Dyn., as we have seen.
- (especially taxonomy) Common, usual; of the typical kind.
- vulgar bush brown (Bicyclus vulgaris)
1869, Richard Francis Burton, The Highlands of the Brazil, page 85:A vulture (V. aura), probably the Acabiry first described by Azara, is here called […] the hunter. It resembles in form the vulgar bird, but it flies high. The head is red, and the wings are black with silver lining, like the noble Bateleur of Africa.
- (mathematics) Being a vulgar fraction.
2022, Mary Jane Sterling, Algebra II All-in-One For Dummies, page 282:A fraction is vulgar if it has one integer divided by another integer, as long as the integer that's doing the dividing isn't equal to zero.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
distasteful, uncouth, obscene
- Afrikaans: onbeskaaf, ongepoets, platvloers, vulgêr
- Arabic:
- Egyptian Arabic: بذىء m (bazīʔ)
- Armenian: կոպիտ (hy) (kopit)
- Belarusian: вульга́рны (vulʹhárny), непрысто́йны (njeprystójny)
- Bulgarian: вулга́рен (bg) (vulgáren), неприли́чен (bg) (neprilíčen), непристо́ен (bg) (nepristóen)
- Catalan: vulgar (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 鄙俗 (zh) (bǐsú), 粗俗 (zh) (cūsú)
- Czech: vulgární (cs), sprostý (cs), hrubý (cs)
- Danish: vulgær (da), (dated) obskøn, uanstændig, grov
- Dutch: vulgair (nl), obsceen (nl), smakeloos (nl), ruw (nl), ordinair (nl)
- Esperanto: triviala, vulgara
- Finnish: rivo (fi), vulgaari (fi), alatyylinen (fi) (linguistics), sivistymätön (fi)
- French: vulgaire (fr), obscène (fr)
- Galician: vulgar (gl)
- Georgian: უხეში (uxeši), ვულგარული (vulgaruli), უკმეხი (uḳmexi), მდარე (mdare)
- German: vulgär (de), unfein, ungebildet (de), unanständig (de), ungehobelt (de), vulgärsprachlich (de)
- Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (gamains)
- Greek: χυδαίος (el) (chydaíos), πρόστυχος (el) (próstychos), αγοραίος (el) (agoraíos)
- Ancient: βάναυσος (bánausos), φορτικός (phortikós)
- Hebrew: ווּלְגָרִי (he) m (vulgári), הֲמוֹנִי m (hamoní)
- Hindi: वल्गर (hi) (valgar), अश्लील (hi) (aślīl)
- Hungarian: közönséges (hu), otromba (hu), durva (hu), trágár (hu), vulgáris (hu)
- Indonesian: vulgar (id), cabul (id), kotor (id), jorok (id), tak senonoh
- Italian: osceno (it), triviale (it), volgare (it), indecente (it)
- Japanese: 卑しい (ja) (iyashii), 汚い (ja) (kitanai)
- Lakota: šikšíl
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: vulgær (no)
- Nynorsk: vulgær
- Persian: رکیک (fa) (rakik), مبتذل (fa) (mobtazal)
- Polish: obsceniczny (pl), wulgarny (pl)
- Portuguese: vulgar (pt), obsceno (pt), indecente (pt)
- Romanian: obscen (ro), vulgar (ro)
- Russian: вульга́рный (ru) (vulʹgárnyj), непристо́йный (ru) (nepristójnyj), неприли́чный (ru) (neprilíčnyj), по́шлый (ru) (póšlyj)
- Sanskrit: अनार्य (sa) (anārya)
- Slovene: vulgaren (sl)
- Spanish: vulgar (es), chabacano (es), ramplón (es)
- Swedish: vulgär (sv), chabacano (es)
- Telugu: అశ్లీలము (aślīlamu)
- Thai: หยาบคาย (th) (yàap-kaai)
- Turkish: kaba (tr)
- Ukrainian: вульга́рний (vulʹhárnyj), непристо́йний (neprystójnyj)
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having to do with common people
- Afrikaans: volks, gewoon (af), algemeen (af)
- Arabic:
- Egyptian Arabic: شعبى m (šáʕbi)
- Bulgarian: простонароден (bg) (prostonaroden)
- Catalan: vulgar (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 平民的 (zh) (píngmín de), 庶民的 (zh) (shùmín de), 百姓的 (zh) (bǎixìng de)
- Czech: prostý (cs), lidový (cs)
- Danish: vulgær (da), simpel, ordinær, (dated) gemen (da), plat
- Dutch: volks (nl), gewoon (nl), gemeen (nl), ordinair (nl)
- Esperanto: vulgara
- Finnish: kansanomainen (fi), rahvaanomainen (fi)
- Galician: vulgar (gl)
- Georgian: საყოველთა (saq̇ovelta), გლეხური (glexuri)
- German: allgemein (de), ordinär (de), vulgär (de), vulgärsprachlich (de), Volks-, volkstümlich (de), gemein (de), gewöhnlich (de)
- Greek: κοινός (el) (koinós)
- Japanese: 平民の (ja) (heimin no), 庶民的な (shominteki na)
- Portuguese: vulgar (pt), popular (pt), comum (pt)
- Romanian: grosolan (ro), comun (ro), ordinar (ro)
- Russian: простонаро́дный (ru) (prostonaródnyj)
- Scottish Gaelic: gràisgeil
- Slovene: ljudski
- Spanish: vulgar (es)
- Swedish: (please verify) vulgär (sv), pöbel-, pöbelaktig (sv), gemen (sv)
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Noun
vulgar (plural vulgars)
- (historical or derogatory) A common, ordinary person.
2016, Evan Gottlieb, Juliet Shields, Representing Place in British Literature and Culture, 1660-1830:Popular antiquarian writings […] frequently focused on the regional vulgars' superstitious beliefs regarding the dead and their ongoing presence—such as popular funeral rites or the vulgars' fear of church yards.
- (collective) The common people.
- The vernacular tongue or common language of a country.
1623, William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies; Published according to the True Originall Copies, London, act 5, scene 1, page 204, Internet Shakespeare Editions:Therefore you Clowne, abandon: which is in the vulgar, leaue the societie: which in the boorish, is companie, of this female: which in the common, is woman: which together, is, abandon the society of this Female, […]
Catalan
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin vulgāris.
Pronunciation
Adjective
vulgar m or f (masculine and feminine plural vulgars)
- vulgar
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
Galician
Etymology
From Latin vulgāris.
Pronunciation
Adjective
vulgar m or f (plural vulgares)
- common to the people, vulgar
- ordinary, undistinguished
- Synonym: prosaico
- popular, commonly understood, as opposed to scientific or technical
- Synonyms: común, popular
- Antonyms: científico, técnico
- simple, unintelligent
Related terms
Noun
vulgar m (plural vulgares)
- vulgar (the vernacular tongue or common language of a country)
Further reading
References
- “uulgar” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
- “vulgar” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
- “vulgar” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
- “vulgar” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
Portuguese
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin vulgāris.
Pronunciation
Adjective
vulgar m or f (plural vulgares)
- common to the people, vulgar
- ordinary, undistinguished
- Synonym: prosaico
- popular, commonly understood, as opposed to scientific or technical
- Synonyms: comum, popular
- Antonyms: científico, técnico
- simple, unintelligent
Related terms
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French vulgaire, Latin vulgaris.
Pronunciation
Adjective
vulgar m or n (feminine singular vulgară, masculine plural vulgari, feminine and neuter plural vulgare)
- vulgar
- Synonyms: grosolan, ordinar, comun
Declension
Related terms
Spanish
Etymology
From Latin vulgāris.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bulˈɡaɾ/
- Rhymes: -aɾ
- Syllabification: vul‧gar
Adjective
vulgar m or f (masculine and feminine plural vulgares)
- vulgar
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading