[ad. L. crass-us solid, thick, dense, fat, etc. Cf. F. crasse fem. adj. (16th c. in Littré); OF. had cras, now gras.]
1. Coarse, gross, dense, thick (in physical constitution or texture). Now somewhat rare.
1545. Raynold, Byrth Mankynde, 12. The bottome of the mother or wombe is more crasse, thycke, and flesshy.
1646. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., II. v. 91. A crasse and fumide exhalation.
1695. Woodward, Nat. Hist. Earth, VI. (1723), 295. Terrestrial Particles, which are more crass and ponderous.
1715. trans. Pancirollus’ Rerum Mem., I. I. ix. 23. Of all Unguents … the most crasse and thickest.
1866. Treas. Bot., s.v., The leaves of cotyledons, which are much more fleshy, have been called crass.
1884. J. Colborne, Hicks Pasha, 180. A crass, gluey substance.
† b. Said of things material as opposed to immaterial or spiritual. Obs.
1649. Jer. Taylor, Gt. Exemp., II. Ad Sec. 12. 94. Dives had the inheritance of the earth, in the crasse materiall sense.
1653. H. More, Antid. Ath., III. vi. § 7. Whatsoever is crass and external leaves stronger Impress upon the Phansie. Ibid. (1664), Synops. Proph., 217. Bearing strongly upon the phancy by exhibiting crass and palpable objects.
2. Of personal qualities, ideas, and other things immaterial: Gross; grossly dull or stupid, ‘dense.’
1660. R. Coke, Justice Vind., 20. Where it [the Phantasie] is crass and dull, and moves slowly.
1664. H. More, Myst. Iniq., 110. An undoubted and conspicuous piece of the crassest Anti-christianism.
1859. Times, 20 Aug., 8/3. A free Press must be allowed to go forth and dispel the crass ignorance which weighs over the land.
1877. E. R. Conder, Bas. Faith, iii. 108. The crass materialism which talks about the brain secreting thought, as the liver secretes bile.
1881. W. Robertson Smith, Old Test. in Jewish Ch., 291. The crasser forms of religion.
b. Of persons: Grossly stupid, ‘dense’: grossly insensitive or unrefined (rare).
1861. Thackeray, Philip, viii. Your … undeserved good fortune … has rendered you hard, cold, crass, indifferent.
1872. Geo. Eliot, Middlem., xvi. Crass minds … whose reflective scales could only weigh things in the lump.
1877. Black, Green Past., xx. (1878), 161. This crass idiot.
