A crude method or measurement is not exact or detailed, but may be useful or correct in a rough, general way.

If you describe an object that someone has made as crude, you mean that it has been made in a very simple way or from very simple parts.

If you describe someone as crude, you disapprove of them because they speak or behave in a rude, offensive, or unsophisticated way.

Crude substances are in a natural or unrefined state, and have not yet been used in manufacturing processes.

Crude is the same as crude oil .