Anderen Menschen gegenüber nicht höflich.
Not polite towards other people.
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See how the word “unhöflich” is used in sentences
Es ist unhöflich, jemanden zu unterbrechen. — It is rude to interrupt.
Sei nicht unhöflich zum Kellner. — Don't be rude to the waiter.
Das war eine unhöfliche Frage, oder? — That was a rude question, wasn't it?
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Download the app for free German vocabulary testUnhöflich is transparent: un- plus höflich, and höflich comes from Hof, the court — polite means courtly, exactly as in English courteous. The German word covers only manners, and does not carry the British sense of rude meaning smutty.
For that second sense German says anzüglich or, of words, Schimpfwörter. So a rude joke is ein anzüglicher Witz, and translating it as ein unhöflicher Witz would say something else entirely.
höflich polite
From Hof, the court — the same image as English courteous, arrived at independently.
anzüglich suggestive, off-colour
What British English means by rude when it means smutty. German keeps the two senses in different words.
grob coarse, rough
The German word that looks like a translation of rude but means rough in manner or texture.
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