vulgar

See also: vulgär and vulgær

English

Alternative forms

• (early modern English): vulgare

Etymology

From Middle English vulgare, from Latin vulgāris, from volgus, vulgus (“mob; common folk”), from Proto-Indo-European *welH-. Compare Welsh gwala (“plenty, sufficiency”), Ancient Greek ἁλία (halía, “assembly”), εἰλέω (eiléō, “to compress”), Proto-Slavic *valъ.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈvʌl.ɡə/
• (US) enPR: vŭlʹgər, IPA^(key): /ˈvʌl.ɡɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌlɡə(ɹ)

Adjective

vulgar (comparative more vulgar or vulgarer, superlative most vulgar or vulgarest)

2. Debased; uncouth; distasteful; obscene.

   Coordinate terms: derogatory, disparaging, offensive

   Synonyms: inappropriate, debased, uncouth, offensive, ignoble, mean, profane, crass, crude, coarse; see also Thesaurus: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.‎^[1], 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.

   • 1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 150:

     And, placed discreetly among these commonplaces, a few pieces of genuine quality, bizarrely distinguished by craftsmanship from the vulgar products of the machine.

   • 2023 May 28, Robert Armstrong, “The world wobbles; the luxury industry strides on”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, 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.

4. (historical or derogatory) Having to do with ordinary, common people.

   Synonyms: common, popular, plebeian

   Near-synonyms: vulgate; vulgarized

   • 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.

6. (especially taxonomy) Common, usual; of the typical kind.

   Synonyms: customary, ordinary, typical; see also Thesaurus:normal

   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.

8. (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.

Derived terms

• invulgar
• nonvulgar
• (obscene): vulgarity, vulgarian
• (ordinary): vulgar fraction, vulgate, Vulgate
• supravulgar
• unvulgar
• Vulgar Era
• vulgar fraction
• vulgarise
• vulgarish
• vulgarism
• vulgarist
• vulgarization
• vulgarize
• Vulgar Latin
• vulgarly
• vulgar Marxism
• vulgarness

Translations

distasteful, uncouth, obscene

• Afrikaans: onbeskaaf (af), ongepoets (af), platvloers (af), vulgêr (af)
• Albanian: vulgar (sq)
• Arabic: بَذِيء (ar) (baḏīʔ)

  Egyptian Arabic: بذىء (arz) m (bazīʔ)

• Armenian: կոպիտ (hy) (kopit)
• Asturian: porcaz, vulgar
• Belarusian: вульга́рны (be) (vulʹhárny), непрысто́йны (be) (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 (da), uanstændig (da), grov (da)
• Dutch: vulgair (nl), obsceen (nl), smakeloos (nl), ruw (nl), ordinair (nl)
• Esperanto: triviala (eo), vulgara (eo)
• Finnish: rivo (fi), vulgaari (fi), alatyylinen (fi) (linguistics), sivistymätön (fi)
• French: vulgaire (fr), obscène (fr)
• Galician: vulgar (gl)
• Georgian: უხეში (ka) (uxeši), ვულგარული (ka) (vulgaruli), უკმეხი (ka) (uḳmexi), მდარე (ka) (mdare)
• German: vulgär (de), unfein (de), ungebildet (de), unanständig (de), ungehobelt (de), vulgärsprachlich (de)
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (got) (gamains)
• Greek: χυδαίος (el) (chydaíos), πρόστυχος (el) (próstychos), αγοραίος (el) (agoraíos)

  Ancient Greek: βάναυσος (grc) (bánausos), φορτικός (grc) (phortikós)

• Gujarati: અશ્લીલ (gu) (aślīl), બીભત્સ (gu) (bībhats)
• Hebrew: ווּלְגָרִי (he) m (vulgári), הֲמוֹנִי (he) 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 (id)
• Italian: osceno (it), triviale (it), volgare (it), indecente (it)
• Japanese: 卑しい (ja) (iyashii), 汚い (ja) (kitanai)
• Lakota: šikšíl (lkt)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: vulgær (no)

  Nynorsk: vulgær (nn)

• 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)
• Telugu: అశ్లీలము (te) (aślīlamu)
• Thai: หยาบคาย (th) (yàap-kaai)
• Turkish: kaba (tr)
• Ukrainian: вульга́рний (uk) (vulʹhárnyj), непристо́йний (uk) (neprystójnyj)

having to do with common people

• Afrikaans: volks (af), gewoon (af), algemeen (af)
• Arabic:

  Egyptian Arabic: شعبى (arz) m (šáʕbi)

• Asturian: vulgar
• 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 (da), ordinær (da), (dated) gemen (da), plat (da)
• Dutch: volks (nl), gewoon (nl), gemeen (nl), ordinair (nl)
• Esperanto: vulgara (eo)
• Finnish: kansanomainen (fi), rahvaanomainen (fi)
• Galician: vulgar (gl)
• Georgian: საყოველთა (ka) (saq̇ovelta), გლეხური (ka) (glexuri)
• German: allgemein (de), ordinär (de), vulgär (de), vulgärsprachlich (de), Volks- (de), volkstümlich (de), gemein (de), gewöhnlich (de)
• Greek: κοινός (el) (koinós)
• Japanese: 平民の (ja) (heimin no), 庶民的な (ja) (shominteki na)
• Portuguese: vulgar (pt), popular (pt), comum (pt)
• Romanian: grosolan (ro), comun (ro), ordinar (ro)
• Russian: простонаро́дный (ru) (prostonaródnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: gràisgeil (gd)
• Slovene: ljudski (sl)
• Spanish: vulgar (es), shumo (es) (of a person, Guatemala)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} vulgär (sv), pöbel- (sv), pöbelaktig (sv), gemen (sv)
• Turkish:

  Ottoman Turkish: بیاغی (ota) (bayağı)

Noun

vulgar (plural vulgars)

1. (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.

2. (collective) The common people.
3. The language of a people, especially the commoners.

   Synonyms: vulgate, vernacular

   • 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,  […]

     (Or in a modern form: Therefore, you clown, abandon—which is in the vulgar, “leave”—the society—which in the boorish is “company”—of this female—which in the common is “woman”—which together is: abandon the society of this female, […])

Translations

common people — see also mob,‎ riffraff,‎ rabble

• Spanish: vulgo (es) m

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin vulgāris.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central, Northwestern) [bulˈɣar]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [vulˈɣa]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [vulˈɣaɾ]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

vulgar m or f (masculine and feminine plural vulgars)

1. vulgar

Derived terms

• vulgarment

Related terms

• vulgaritat

Further reading

• “vulgar”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Galician

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *wolgosder.?

Proto-Italic *welgosder.?

Latin vulgus

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin -āris

Latin vulgārisder.

Galician vulgar

Derived from Latin vulgāris.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /bulˈɡaɾ/ [buɫˈɣ̞ɑɾ]

• IPA^(key): (standard) /bulˈɡaɾ/ [buɫˈɣ̞ɑɾ]
• IPA^(key): (gheada) /bulˈħaɾ/ [buɫˈħɑɾ]

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Hyphenation: vul‧gar

Adjective

vulgar m or f (plural vulgares)

1. common to the people, vulgar
2. ordinary, undistinguished

   Synonym: prosaico

3. popular, commonly understood, as opposed to scientific or technical

   Synonyms: común, popular

   Antonyms: científico, técnico

4. simple, unintelligent

Related terms

• vulgaridade
• vulgarismo
• vulgarmente
• vulgo

Noun

vulgar m (plural vulgares)

1. vulgar (the vernacular tongue or common language of a country)

Further reading

• “vulgar”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “uulgar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “vulgar”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, editor (2006–2013), “vulgar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, Ernesto X. González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “vulgar”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “vulgar”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026

Indonesian

Etymology

Internationalism

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈvulɡar/ [ˈful.ɡar]
• Rhymes: -ulɡar
• Syllabification: vul‧gar

Adjective

vulgar (comparative lebih vulgar, superlative paling vulgar)

1. vulgar (debased, uncouth, distasteful, or obscene)

   Synonym: kasar

Derived terms

• kevulgaran

Further reading

• “vulgar”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Interlingua

Etymology

Derived from English vulgar, French vulgaire, Spanish vulgar, Portuguese vulgar and Italian volgare, all from Latin vulgāris. Compare Ido vulgara.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vulˈɡar/

Adjective

vulgar (comparative plus vulgar, superlative le plus vulgar)

1. vulgar (all senses)

Related terms

• vulgarisar
• vulgarisation
• vulgarisator
• vulgarismo
• vulgaritate
• vulgo

Further reading

• Alexander Gode (1951), “vulgar”, in Interlingua-English: A Dictionary of the International Language, New York: Storm Publishers, →OL, page 412

Occitan

Pronunciation

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

Adjective

vulgar m (feminine singular vulgara, masculine plural vulgars, feminine plural vulgaras)

1. vulgar, common to the people
2. ordinary, undistinguished
3. popular

Derived terms

• vulgarament

Related terms

• vulgarizacion
• vulgarizar
• vulgaritat

Further reading

• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana‎^[2], L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2026, page 742

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *wolgosder.?

Proto-Italic *welgosder.?

Latin vulgus

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin -āris

Latin vulgārislbor.

Portuguese vulgar

Learned borrowing from Latin vulgāris.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /vuwˈɡaʁ/ [vuʊ̯ˈɡah]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /vuwˈɡaʁ/ [vuʊ̯ˈɡah]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /vuwˈɡaɾ/ [vuʊ̯ˈɡaɾ]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /vuwˈɡaʁ/ [vuʊ̯ˈɡaχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /vuwˈɡaɻ/ [vuʊ̯ˈɡaɻ]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /vulˈɡaɾ/ [vuɫˈɣaɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /vulˈɡaɾ/ [vuɫˈɣaɾ]
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /bulˈɡaɾ/ [buɫˈɣaɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /vulˈɡa.ɾi/ [vuɫˈɡa.ɾi]

• Hyphenation: vul‧gar

Adjective

vulgar m or f (plural vulgares)

1. common to the people, vulgar
2. ordinary, undistinguished

   Synonym: prosaico

3. popular, commonly understood, as opposed to scientific or technical

   Synonyms: comum, popular

   Antonyms: científico, técnico

4. simple, unintelligent

Related terms

• vulgaridade
• vulgarismo
• vulgo

Further reading

• “vulgar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “vulgar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French vulgaire, Latin vulgaris.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vulˈɡar/

Adjective

vulgar m or n (feminine singular vulgară, masculine plural vulgari, feminine/neuter plural vulgare)

1. vulgar

   Synonyms: grosolan, ordinar, comun

Declension

Declension of vulgar

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	vulgar		vulgară	vulgari	vulgare
	definite	vulgarul		vulgara	vulgarii	vulgarele
genitive- dative	indefinite	vulgar		vulgare	vulgari	vulgare
	definite	vulgarului		vulgarei	vulgarilor	vulgarelor

Related terms

• vulg

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *wolgosder.?

Proto-Italic *welgosder.?

Latin vulgus

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin -āris

Latin vulgārisder.

Spanish vulgar

Derived from Latin vulgāris.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bulˈɡaɾ/ [bulˈɣ̞aɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: vul‧gar

Adjective

vulgar m or f (masculine and feminine plural vulgares)

1. vulgar (all senses)

Derived terms

• cernícalo vulgar
• cisne vulgar
• latín vulgar
• pinzón vulgar
• vulgarísimo
• vulgarmente

Related terms

• vulgaridad
• vulgo

Further reading

• “vulgar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025