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churl·ish

(chûrlĭsh)

adj.

1. Having a bad disposition; surly: "as valiant as the lion, churlish as the bear" (Shakespeare).

2. Archaic Of, like, or befitting a churl; boorish or vulgar.

3. Archaic Difficult to work with; intractable. Used as of soil.

churlish·ly adv.

churlish·ness n.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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