Definition

Adverb: 1. In a vulgar, coarse, or obscene manner: Refers to behaving, speaking, or acting in a way that is crude, offensive to good taste, or lacking refinement. 2. In a common or unrefined manner: Can describe something done in a way that is characteristic of the common people, often implying a lack of sophistication or elegance.

Usage and Examples

• Adverb (Modifying a Verb):
  • He laughed vulgarly at the crude joke. (He laughed in a coarse and offensive manner.)
  • The graffiti was vulgarly scrawled across the monument. (It was written in a crude and defacing way.)
• Adverb (Modifying an Adjective):
  • The display was vulgarly ostentatious. (The display was showy in a tasteless, unrefined way.)

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• The adverb vulgarly often carries a strong negative judgment, implying the action is not just common but offensive to propriety or decency.
• It can be used in formal criticism of art, behavior, or language to denote a lapse in taste or decorum.
  • The critic panned the film for its vulgarly explicit scenes.
• "to speak vulgarly": This is a common collocation meaning to use obscene or coarse language.

Variants and Related Words

• Vulgar (adjective): Lacking sophistication or good taste; coarse.
  • a vulgar display of wealth
• Vulgarity (noun): The state or quality of being vulgar; a vulgar act or expression.
  • She was shocked by the vulgarity of his comments.

Synonyms

• Crudely: In a rough, unrefined, or offensive manner.
• Obscenely: In a manner offensive to morality or decency; lewdly.
• Coarsely: In a rough, harsh, or unpolished manner.
• Tastelessly: Without good aesthetic judgment; in a gaudy or offensive way.

Antonyms

• Refinedly: In an elegant, cultured, and polished manner.
• Decently: In a conforming way to accepted standards of propriety.
• Tastefully: In a manner showing good aesthetic judgment.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• While not a phrasal verb, the phrase "to act vulgarly" is a standard construction describing crude behavior.
  • He was ejected from the restaurant for acting vulgarly.

Adverb

1. in a smutty manner