Literary notes about unrefined (AI summary)
Writers employ the term "unrefined" to convey various shades of rawness and a lack of polish, whether describing people, ideas, or materials. It may refer to the unsophisticated, even crude, nature of a character’s manners or thoughts—as seen when a character’s speech or behavior is criticized for being unpolished ([1], [2], [3])—or serve as a descriptor for materials that have yet to be processed or purified, as when referring to unrefined metal or sugar ([4], [5], [6]). In other contexts, the word captures an emotional or aesthetic quality, suggesting a natural, powerful state that is both honest and unadorned, yet sometimes harsh or rudimentary ([7], [8], [9]). This versatility in usage enriches narrative texture by juxtaposing cultivated refinement against a backdrop of inherent, unrefined vitality.
- Langdon cried—"a mountain cracker, a clodhopper, an uncouth, unrefined—" "Stop!
— from Ann Boyd: A Novel by Will N. (Will Nathaniel) Harben - It does not make me less fond of you; but I am often sorry, when we talk together, to notice how unrefined your ideas are.
— from Diana Tempest, Volume II by Mary Cholmondeley - "Elizabeth," he said, sternly, "in view of your most unrefined and unladylike language it behooves me to reprimand you severely.
— from You Should Worry Says John Henry by George V. (George Vere) Hobart - Perhaps the true meaning of ara, aurum, &c., is unrefined metal; if so, we have the root of them all in our own word ore.
— from Wild Wales: Its People, Language and Scenery by George Borrow - One of the vats was full of a rich brown liquid, which we were informed was unrefined cod-liver oil.
— from Across Iceland by W. (William) Bisiker - To the right of each plate, a little jaggery (unrefined sugar) is placed on a piece of plantain leaf.
— from Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 7 of 7 by Edgar Thurston - He embraced the unrefined and the savage as well as the tender and human.
— from Whitman: A Study by John Burroughs - The somewhat unrefined exuberance of her figure she laced in an inimitable corset.
— from The Helpmate by May Sinclair - It is the merest animal passion—passion unrefined by sentiment, uncolored by emotion; the love of Etheridge and Wycherley.
— from Idle Hours in a Library by William Henry Hudson
