boor

boor — noun

1. an old-fashioned word for someone with very bad manners who makes other people u

1.noun
Definition

an old-fashioned word for someone with very bad manners who makes other people uncomfortable by the way they speak or act.

Example

At dinner, Uncle Reza looked like a boor, laughing at the waiter.

pattern: look like a boor

Noa refused a second date after Eli acted like a boor.

pattern: act like a boor

Common collocations
  • act like a boor
  • look like a boor
  • social boor
  • complete boor
Synonyms
  • jerk

    more modern and common; often used for one rude act

  • lout

    old-fashioned too; suggests awkward, coarse behavior

  • oaf

    often adds the idea of clumsy foolishness

  • cad

    old-fashioned and often used for a man with bad social behavior

Grammar Patterns

a boor

act like a boor

become a boor

Usage Note

Usually used as a countable insult after a or like. It often describes socially rude behavior, such as interrupting, grabbing, or speaking without respect, and it sounds more old-fashioned than modern words like jerk.

Common Mistakes

The lecture was a boor.
The lecture was a bore.
'boor' is a rude person; 'bore' is a boring person or thing.
My laptop is a boor.
My laptop is annoying.
'boor' is used only for a person.

Word family

  • boorish
    adjectiveC2
  • boorishly
    adverbC2
  • boorishness
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

For this sense, 'boor' points to bad manners in social situations and has an old-fashioned tone. 'Jerk' is the modern everyday choice and can fit almost any rude action. 'Lout' is also old-fashioned, but it often suggests a rough, awkward person from the way they move or behave. 'Oaf' usually adds clumsiness or stupidity, not only impoliteness. 'Cad' is strongly old-fashioned and is especially used for a man who behaves badly toward women or in polite society. Compare: 'He was a boor at the dinner table.' 'That jerk cut in line again.' 'She left him because he was a cad.'

boor ↗jerk ↗loutoafcad

Etymology

DutchEnglish

The word came into English in the 1500s from Dutch boer, or a closely related Low German form, meaning a farmer or country person. It first referred to a peasant or rustic person. Later, it took on a negative social meaning, so a 'boor' became someone seen as uncultured and offensively impolite. The adjective 'boorish' developed from the same idea.