Coarse vs. Course: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Published on January 17, 2024
"Coarse" refers to a rough or crude texture or quality, while "Course" primarily denotes a direction, path, or a series of lessons or studies.
Key Differences
Coarse describes a rough, uneven, or rugged texture, often used for materials or surfaces. Conversely, Course does not relate to texture but refers to a path or progression, as in a route or a series of academic lessons.
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Jan 17, 2024
Coarse is often used to describe materials like fabric, hair, or sand, emphasizing their lack of fineness or smoothness. Course is used to describe educational programs, a sequence of events, or a direction in navigation.
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Jan 17, 2024
Coarse functions as an adjective, modifying nouns by describing their physical characteristics. Course can be a noun, referring to a path or set of classes, or a verb, meaning to move along a path.
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Jan 17, 2024
Coarse can also describe abstract qualities, like behavior or language, implying a lack of refinement. Course, as a noun, can have metaphorical meanings, like the course of one's life, and as a verb, it can mean to flow or move swiftly.
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Jan 17, 2024
Coarse is used in cooking to describe the texture of ground ingredients, like coarse salt or sugar. Course in culinary settings refers to a part of a meal, such as the main course or dessert course.
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Jan 17, 2024
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Comparison Chart
Definition
Rough or crude texture/quality
Path, direction, or series of lessons
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Jan 17, 2024
Usage in Materials
Describes material texture (coarse fabric)
Not applicable
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Jan 17, 2024
Usage in Education
Not applicable
Refers to academic programs (course of study)
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Abstract Use
Describes behavior/language (coarse language)
Metaphorical (course of life)
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Jan 17, 2024
Culinary Context
Texture of ingredients (coarse salt)
Part of a meal (main course)
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Jan 17, 2024
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Coarse and Course Definitions
Coarse
Broad Particles
Large or broad particles (Coarse sand is used in construction).
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Jan 06, 2024
Course
Educational Program
A series of lessons or studies (She enrolled in a photography course).
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Coarse
Lacking Refinement
Implies a lack of refinement or delicacy (His manners were coarse).
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Course
Part of a Meal
A specific part of a meal (The main course was delicious).
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Jan 06, 2024
Coarse
Culinary Texture
In cooking, large or rough particles (Use coarse salt for this recipe).
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Jan 06, 2024
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Course
Flow of Action
The progression of events (The course of history cannot be changed).
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Jan 06, 2024
Course
The direction of continuing movement
The boat took a northern course.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
The route or path taken by something that moves, such as a stream or vehicle.
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Course
A designated route or area on which a race is held
The course of a marathon.
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Course
A mode of action or behavior
Followed the best course and invested her money.
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Course
A typical, natural, or customary manner of proceeding or developing
A fad that ran its course.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
A systematic or orderly succession; a sequence
A course of medical treatments.
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Course
A continuous layer of building material, such as brick or tile, on a wall or roof of a building.
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Jan 05, 2024
Coarse
Large in bulk, or composed of large parts or particles; of inferior quality or appearance; not fine in material or close in texture; gross; thick; rough; - opposed to fine; as, coarse sand; coarse thread; coarse cloth; coarse bread.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
A complete body of prescribed studies constituting a curriculum
A four-year course in engineering.
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Jan 05, 2024
Coarse
Not refined; rough; rude; unpolished; gross; indelicate; as, coarse manners; coarse language.
I feelOf what coarse metal ye are molded.
To copy, in my coarse English, his beautiful expressions.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
A unit of such a curriculum
Took an introductory course in chemistry.
Passed her calculus course.
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Jan 05, 2024
Coarse
Of texture; large-grained or rough to the touch;
Coarse meal
Coarse sand
A coarse weave
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
A part of a meal served as a unit at one time
The first course was a delicious soup.
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Jan 05, 2024
Coarse
Lacking refinement or cultivation or taste;
He had coarse manners but a first-rate mind
Behavior that branded him as common
An untutored and uncouth human being
An uncouth soldier--a real tough guy
Appealing to the vulgar taste for violence
The vulgar display of the newly rich
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Jan 05, 2024
Coarse
Of low or inferior quality or value;
Of what coarse metal ye are molded
Produced...the common cloths used by the poorer population
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
A point on the compass, especially the one toward which a vehicle, such as a ship, is moving.
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Jan 05, 2024
Coarse
Conspicuously and tastelessly indecent;
Coarse language
A crude joke
Crude behavior
An earthy sense of humor
A revoltingly gross expletive
A vulgar gesture
Full of language so vulgar it should have been edited
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
(Music) A string or set of two or more closely-spaced and usually identically-tuned strings, as on a lute.
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Jan 05, 2024
Coarse
Rough Texture
Coarse means having a rough or uneven surface (The towel felt coarse against the skin).
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Jan 06, 2024
Coarse
Crude Language
Crude or vulgar language (He was known for his coarse language).
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Jan 06, 2024
Course
To proceed or move swiftly in a certain direction or along a course
"Big tears now coursed down her face" (Iris Murdoch).
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
A sequence of events.
The normal course of events seems to be just one damned thing after another.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
A learning programme, whether a single class or (UK) a major area of study.
I need to take a French course.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
A path that something or someone moves along.
His illness ran its course.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
(nautical) The direction of movement of a vessel at any given moment.
The ship changed its course 15 degrees towards south.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
(navigation) The intended passage of voyage, such as a boat, ship, airplane, spaceship, etc.
A course was plotted to traverse the ocean.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
(nautical) The lowest square sail in a fully rigged mast, often named according to the mast.
Main course and mainsail are the same thing in a sailing ship.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
(masonry) A row of bricks or blocks.
On a building that size, two crews could only lay two courses in a day.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
(roofing) A row of material that forms the roofing, waterproofing or flashing system.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
(textiles) In weft knitting, a single row of loops connecting the loops of the preceding and following rows.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
(music) One or more strings on some musical instruments (such as the guitar, lute or vihuela): if multiple, then closely spaced, tuned in unison or octaves and intended to played together.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
To run or flow (especially of liquids and more particularly blood).
The oil coursed through the engine.
Blood pumped around the human body courses throughout all its veins and arteries.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
(transitive) To pursue by tracking or estimating the course taken by one's prey; to follow or chase after.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
(transitive) To cause to chase after or pursue game.
To course greyhounds after deer
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
The act of moving from one point to another; progress; passage.
And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
The ground or path traversed; track; way.
The same horse also run the round course at Newmarket.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
Motion, considered as to its general or resultant direction or to its goal; line progress or advance.
A light by which the Argive squadron steersTheir silent course to Ilium's well known shore.
Westward the course of empire takes its way.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
Progress from point to point without change of direction; any part of a progress from one place to another, which is in a straight line, or on one direction; as, a ship in a long voyage makes many courses; a course measured by a surveyor between two stations; also, a progress without interruption or rest; a heat; as, one course of a race.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
Motion considered with reference to manner; or derly progress; procedure in a certain line of thought or action; as, the course of an argument.
The course of true love never did run smooth.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
Customary or established sequence of events; recurrence of events according to natural laws.
By course of nature and of law.
Day and night,Seedtime and harvest, heat and hoary frost,Shall hold their course.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
Method of procedure; manner or way of conducting; conduct; behavior.
My lord of York commends the plot and the general course of the action.
By perseverance in the course prescribed.
You hold your course without remorse.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
A series of motions or acts arranged in order; a succession of acts or practices connectedly followed; as, a course of medicine; a course of lectures on chemistry.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
The succession of one to another in office or duty; order; turn.
He appointed . . . the courses of the priests
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
That part of a meal served at one time, with its accompaniments.
He [Goldsmith] wore fine clothes, gave dinners of several courses, paid court to venal beauties.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
A continuous level range of brick or stones of the same height throughout the face or faces of a building.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
The lowest sail on any mast of a square-rigged vessel; as, the fore course, main course, etc.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
To run, hunt, or chase after; to follow hard upon; to pursue.
We coursed him at the heels.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
To cause to chase after or pursue game; as, to course greyhounds after deer.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
To run as in a race, or in hunting; to pursue the sport of coursing; as, the sportsmen coursed over the flats of Lancashire.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
To move with speed; to race; as, the blood courses through the veins.
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
Education imparted in a series of lessons or class meetings;
He took a course in basket weaving
Flirting is not unknown in college classes
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Course
A connected series of events or actions or developments;
The government took a firm course
Historians can only point out those lines for which evidence is available
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
Facility consisting of a circumscribed area of land or water laid out for a sport;
The course had only nine holes
The course was less than a mile
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
A mode of action;
If you persist in that course you will surely fail
Once a nation is embarked on a course of action it becomes extremely difficult for any retraction to take place
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
A line or route along which something travels or moves;
The hurricane demolished houses in its path
The track of an animal
The course of the river
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
General line of orientation;
The river takes a southern course
The northeastern trend of the coast
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
Move along, of liquids;
Water flowed into the cave
The Missouri feeds into the Mississippi
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Jan 05, 2024
Course
Direction or Path
A direction followed by a ship or plane (The captain set a northern course).
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Jan 06, 2024
Course
Flowing Movement
To move swiftly in a stream (The river courses through the valley).
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Jan 06, 2024
Repeatedly Asked Queries
What does "coarse" mean in texture?
Coarse describes a rough or uneven texture.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 17, 2024
Is "coarse" used in cooking?
Yes, to describe rough textures like coarse salt.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 17, 2024
What does "course" mean in navigation?
It's the path or direction taken by a ship or aircraft.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 17, 2024
How is "course" used in education?
Course refers to a series of academic lessons or studies.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 17, 2024
Can "course" refer to a meal part?
Yes, like the main course in a dining setting.
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Jan 17, 2024
Does "coarse" imply lack of sophistication?
Yes, especially when describing language or manners.
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Jan 17, 2024
What subjects can a "course" cover?
Anything from science to arts in an educational context.
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Jan 17, 2024
Can "coarse" describe behavior?
Yes, it can imply crude or unrefined behavior.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 17, 2024
Can "course" be a verb?
Yes, meaning to move along a path, like water coursing through a channel.
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Jan 17, 2024
How is "course" used metaphorically?
To describe the direction of events, like the course of life.
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Jan 17, 2024
What does "stay the course" mean?
To persist in an action or path despite challenges.
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Jan 17, 2024
Can "course" mean a stream of water?
Yes, especially in poetic or descriptive language.
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Jan 17, 2024
Is "coarse" ever positive?
Rarely, as it usually implies roughness or crudeness.
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Jan 17, 2024
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About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
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