coarse
/kɔɹs/adjective
coarse is spelled C-O-A-R-S-E: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,896th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “coarse vs course” about 1,900 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, coarse means “With a rough texture; not smooth” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in coarse?
| Letters | 6: C-O-A-R-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.6 times per million words; the 16,896th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is coarse?
Coarse appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,896th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce coarse?
- UK /kɔːs/
- US /kɔɹs/
- US [kʰo̞ɹs]
Coarse has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-coarse.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with coarse
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: course (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with coarse?
8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as coarse from its last stressed vowel (/ɔɹs/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of coarse
- coarser comparative
- coarsest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does coarse mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
With a rough texture; not smooth.
- 2
Composed of large particles.
coarse sand
- 3
Lacking refinement, taste or delicacy.
coarse manners
- 4
archaicUnrefined.
- 5
Of inferior quality.
Due to the internet issue, the system generated an coarse audio file.
- 6
Not thin; thick.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Coarse in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | grossier , brut , vulgaire |
| German | rau, belegt , grob, grobkörnig |
| Portuguese | áspero, rugoso, ríspido , grosseiro , grosso, espesso |
| Spanish | tosco, grosero, burdo, chabacano, ramplón |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does coarse come from?
Adjectival use of course that diverged in spelling in the 18th century. The sense developed from '(following) the usual course' (cf. of course) to 'ordinary, common' to 'lacking refinement', with 'not fine, granular' arising from its application to cloth. Compare the development of mean.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).