coarsen

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English

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Etymology

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From coarse +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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coarsen (third-person singular simple present coarsens, present participle coarsening, simple past and past participle coarsened)

  1. (transitive) To make (more) coarse.
    • 1941, Emily Carr, Klee Wyck, Chapter 6 "D'Sonoqua," [1]
      She appeared to be neither wooden nor stationary, but a singing spirit, young and fresh, passing through the jungle. No violence coarsened her; no power domineered to wither her. She was graciously feminine.
    • 1978 March, R. Z. Sheppard, “She-Wits and Funny Persons”, in Time:
      [] as the years went by, democracy and its wide audiences tended to broaden and coarsen humor.
    Because the wool is of poor quality, it will coarsen the fabric.
  2. (intransitive) To become (more) coarse.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Anagrams

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