Lowbred

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Describing someone or something as lacking social graces or high-class upbringing
2. Pertaining to a coarse disposition or manners that are deemed unrefined and unsophisticated
3. Relating to a person or thing that is considered to have common or vulgar origins and lacks refinement

Etymology: "Lowbred" is formed from "low" and "bred," the past participle of "breed." The compound draws on an older English idea that a person's character and manners were inherited along with their blood, so that good conduct was a product of good ancestry. To be "bred" low was to have come from humble stock, and the adjective carried that sense of birth before it came to describe manners alone. Over time the sense shifted from ancestry toward behaviour. Someone called lowbred was no longer simply of common origin but lacking the polish that was thought to come with a privileged upbringing, so the word now judges conduct rather than lineage. Its close relative "well-bred" keeps the older logic intact, still praising refinement as a sign of good breeding.

Synonyms: ill-bred, rude, uncouth, vulgar, boorish