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PlainSpell

crude

/kɹuːd/adjective, noun

crude is spelled C-R-U-D-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, crude means “In a natural, untreated state” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in crude?

Letters5: C-R-U-D-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing10 times per million words; the 7,121st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Sounds like

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).

How common is crude?

Crude appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st 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 crude?

  • /kɹuːd/
  • /kɹʉd/

Crude 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-crude.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with crude

Sounds like: crewed (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of crude

  • cruder comparative
  • crudest superlative
  • crudes plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does crude mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    In a natural, untreated state.

    crude oil

  2. 2

    Characterized by simplicity, especially something not carefully or expertly made.

    a crude shelter

  3. 3

    Lacking concealing elements.

    a crude truth

  4. 4

    Lacking tact or taste.

    a crude remark

  5. 5

    Not adjusted or further analyzed.

  6. 6

    archaicImmature or unripe.

  7. 7

    obsoleteUncooked, raw.

  8. 8

    Pertaining to the uninflected stem of a word.

noun

  1. 1

    Any substance in its natural state.

  2. 2

    Ellipsis of crude oil.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Crude in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcru (being in a natural state), vulgaire (lacking tact or taste), brut (statistics: in an unanalyzed form)
Germanroh (being in a natural state), einfach gestrickt, schlicht, grob gezimmert (characterized by simplicity), nackt, pur (lacking concealing elements)
Portuguesecru, bruto (being in a natural state), rústico (characterized by simplicity)
Spanishcrudo (being in a natural state), en bruto (statistics: in an unanalyzed form)

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 crude come from?

Doublet of crudo, which was borrowed from Italian, and (more distantly) raw through Proto-Indo-European.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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