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Synonym Chooser

How is the word vulgar different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of vulgar are coarse, gross, obscene, and ribald. While all these words mean "offensive to good taste or morals," vulgar often implies boorishness or ill-breeding.

a loud vulgar belch

When is it sensible to use coarse instead of vulgar?

While the synonyms coarse and vulgar are close in meaning, coarse implies roughness, rudeness, or crudeness of spirit, behavior, or language.

found the coarse humor of coworkers offensive

When might gross be a better fit than vulgar?

The synonyms gross and vulgar are sometimes interchangeable, but gross implies extreme coarseness and insensitiveness.

gross eating habits

In what contexts can obscene take the place of vulgar?

While in some cases nearly identical to vulgar, obscene applies to anything strongly repulsive to the sense of decency and propriety especially in sexual matters.

obscene language not allowed on the air

Where would ribald be a reasonable alternative to vulgar?

In some situations, the words ribald and vulgar are roughly equivalent. However, ribald applies to what is amusingly or picturesquely vulgar or irreverent or mildly indecent.

entertained the campers with ribald folk songs

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of vulgar The biopic is the vulgar but necessary tribute inherently populist cinema pays to more traditional, higher-brow art. Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2025 That shows Davidson freaking out about meeting the queen in order to accept his MBE, finding his inner strength with the help of Dottie to entering the grand hall with a vulgar outburst and charmingly apologizing. Carole Horst, Variety, 7 Sep. 2025 Owen and Lauryn were flooded with anonymous texts daily, many of which were aggressive and vulgar. Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 4 Sep. 2025 Two Beal City high schoolers received thousands of vulgar text messages from an unknown sender for months. Natalie Davies, Freep.com, 3 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for vulgar
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vulgar
Adjective
  • The organization’s Green Heart Project, which studies the impact of better air quality on heart disease through urban greening, has found that increasing the number of trees and shrubs in an area can create lower levels of a blood marker associated with inflammation.
    Maggie Menderski, Louisville Courier Journal, 26 Oct. 2025
  • Here is Carreras profiting from that exact ploy while playing for Benfica against Barcelona in the Champions League last season, sneaking forward on the far side before receiving the switch and hammering a low cross into striker Vangelis Pavlidis to score.
    Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Beside one of those blandly obscene bidets.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 21 Oct. 2025
  • But the show avoided an FCC probe as the West Coast delay was censored, and the East Coast broadcast aired after the 6am-10pm window during which obscene content is prohibited on broadcast TV and radio.
    Glenn Garner, Deadline, 19 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • In general, the family and the Brown-Forman Foundation, the company's philanthropic arm, tries to be consistent with its giving, said current Brown-Forman board chairman Farrer.
    Maggie Menderski, Louisville Courier Journal, 26 Oct. 2025
  • Led by quarterback Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt’s roster has been built by coach Clark Lea and general manager Barton Simmons, a longtime recruiting analyst for Rivals and 247Sports.
    The Athletic College Football Staff, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Each project presented at MIA is picked with a genuine desire for these works to come to the fore, not by crass commercial considerations.
    Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 30 Sep. 2025
  • Free speech covers the jokes, the satire, the parodies—even the dumb, crass, or offensive ones.
    Lizz Winstead, Time, 27 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • The language is colloquial, down-to-earth.
    Andrew Rojecki, The Conversation, 21 Oct. 2025
  • The concept of reawakening is a major theme in this year’s fashion show, celebrating the colloquial woman, from morning to night.
    Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 15 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The Jets recently saw their local deliveries plummet to an ignoble 4.5 rating, which translates to a meager 350,530 Gang Green households tuning in to WBCS-2.
    Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 10 Oct. 2025
  • Its central character, Chevy Chase's Clark W. Griswold, is a dopey dad trying to keep it together amid an escalating series of exasperating frustrations and ignoble temptations.
    Jordan Hoffman, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • OpenAI included numerous guardrails with Sora, including moderation, restrictions on scammy, violent and pornographic material, watermarks and controls over how one's likeness is used.
    Bobby Allyn, NPR, 10 Oct. 2025
  • Some states have instituted requirements for websites with adult or pornographic content to verify visitors' age before granting access, although tech experts have pointed out VPNs can be used to get around those guardrails.
    Arpan Lobo, Freep.com, 4 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Dissent is nothing more than the expression of an opinion that varies from the prevailing or traditional view or the position held by those in power.
    Elizabeth Shackelford, Twin Cities, 26 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Vulgar.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vulgar. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on vulgar

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