What does crass mean?
Crass is an adjective used to describe people, remarks, or behavior that show a stupid and offensive lack of sensitivity, taste, or refinement. A crass joke at a solemn occasion, a crass display of wealth, or a crass attempt to profit from tragedy all share this quality: a gross, unthinking obtuseness about what the situation calls for. The word carries strong disapproval and is more damning than terms like "rude" — it suggests the person is not simply misbehaving but fundamentally incapable of perceiving why the behavior offends. Common collocations include "crass commercialism," "crass materialism," and "crass ignorance." The word derives from Latin crassus, meaning "thick, dense, or coarse," and entered English in the sixteenth century, originally describing physical thickness before shifting to moral and social coarseness. It remains a sharp, useful term for condemning insensitivity dressed in bluntness.
adjectiveCrass means showing a stupid and offensive lack of sensitivity, good taste, or refinement, especially in matters that others take seriously. It describes behavior or remarks that are coarse, insensitive, and oblivious to their own offensiveness.
- (of a person or their behavior) showing a stupid and offensive lack of sensitivity or good taste; grossly tactless or vulgar.
- So dense or gross as to be impervious to subtlety or refinement (a now-rare sense referring to physical thickness or coarseness).
"His crass remark about the layoffs showed how little he understood what his colleagues were going through."
"It would be crass to mention money at a funeral."
"The film was dismissed by critics as crass commercialism dressed up as art."
Crass comes from the Latin word for "thick," so calling someone crass literally means their head — or at least their manners — is too thick to notice they've just insulted everyone in the room.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of crass
Crass comes from the Latin adjective crassus, meaning "thick, dense, fat, or coarse." It entered English in the mid-sixteenth century, initially retaining something close to its literal Latin sense of physical thickness or density, as in "crass air" or "crass vapors." By the seventeenth century it had developed the figurative sense of mental or moral denseness, giving rise to the modern meaning of gross insensitivity and vulgarity. The same Latin root gives English "crassitude" (thickness or stupidity) and underlies related words such as "crasse."
Related word forms
How crass is actually used
Crass is almost always negative and carries strong disapproval. It is typically used of remarks, jokes, displays of wealth, or commercial opportunism made in contexts where delicacy or restraint is expected. The word implies not merely bad manners but a fundamental obtuseness — the crass person is unaware of, rather than indifferent to, the offense given.
Easily confused with crass
"Crash" is a verb or noun meaning to collide or fail suddenly, while "crass" is an adjective describing insensitivity or vulgarity.