Word.ws English Dictionary

underbred

underbred adjective: of inferior breeding or upbringing; vulgar, lacking in manners or finesse. Also the simple past and past participle of underbreed.

Adjective

underbred (comparative more underbred, superlative most underbred)

  1. Of inferior breeding or upbringing; vulgar, lacking in manners or finesse.
    • The art of governing these under-bred varlets lies more in the dignity of looks than in words […].1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter CDXXIII”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn...
    • Himself, he felt the most underbred of all; he was afraid of these Utopians: snobbish and abject before them, he was like a mannerless earthy lout in a drawing-room, and he was bitterly ashamed of his own abjection.1923, H. G. Wells, Men Like Gods
    Synonyms:
    uncouth, rude, impolite
  2. Not purebred; of an inferior strain.
    • I prefer both sire and dam to be well-bred, but a well-bred mare and an underbred horse will produce a faster animal than a thoroughbred horse and an underbred mare.1902, Frank Sherman Peer, Cross country with horse and hound

Also used as

underbred is also the simple past and past participle of underbreed.

Synonyms of underbred

Antonyms

Forms of underbred

comparativemore underbred
superlativemost underbred
alternative formunder-bred

Origin of underbred

From under- + bred.

Words formed from underbred

Questions about underbred

What does underbred mean?
Underbred means of inferior breeding or upbringing; vulgar, lacking in manners or finesse.
What part of speech is underbred?
Underbred is an adjective.

Words near underbred in the dictionary

  1. underbreathe
  2. underbreathed
  3. underbreathes
  4. underbreathing
  5. underbreaths
  6. underbred
  7. underbredness
  8. underbreeches
  9. underbreed
  10. underbreeding
  11. underbreeds

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: underbred (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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