English

Verb

coarsen ‎(third-person singular simple present coarsens, present participle coarsening, simple past and past participle coarsened)

1. (transitive) To make (more) coarse.
   • 1941, Emily Carr, Klee Wyck, Chapter 6 "D'Sonoqua,"

     She appeared to be neither wooden nor stationary, but a singing spirit, young and fresh, passing through the jungle. No violence coarsened her; no power domineered to wither her. She was graciously feminine.

   • 1978, R. Z. Sheppard, "She-Wits and Funny Persons," Time, 29 February, 1978,

     […] as the years went by, democracy and its wide audiences tended to broaden and coarsen humor.

   Because the wool is poor quality it will coarsen the fabric.

2. (intransitive) To become (more) coarse.
   • 1922, F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned, "The Beating,"

     He was intolerable now except under the influence of liquor, and as he seemed to decay and coarsen under her eyes, Gloria's soul and body shrank away from him […]

   • 1925, Ellen Glasgow, Barren Ground, Chapter 14,

     […] though her skin had coarsened in the last ten years, the dark red of her cheeks and lips was as vivid as ever.

Anagrams

• corneas, earcons