rudimentary
roo-duh-MEN-tuh-reeadjMeaning basic and simple; not developed beyond the first stage
Memory hook RUDE = ROUGH: just the basics. Pip’s first treehouse is rough and simple: four boards, a rope and a blanket for a roof. It is rudimentary.
Pip’s first treehouse was rudimentary: four boards and a blanket for a roof.
In context The travelers spoke only rudimentary French, enough to order bread and ask for the station, but not enough to follow the guide’s long stories.
Similar basic, elementary, simple, crude
Opposite advanced, sophisticated, complex
From rudiment, from Latin rudimentum, “a first attempt,” from rudis (rough, unformed).