as in hick
an awkward or simple person especially from a small town or the country
the bumpkin was overwhelmed by the city's confusing subway system
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Recent Examples of bumpkin
Going to the Ron Burgundy–Ricky Bobby idiot well one time too many, Ferrell plays Cam Brady, a lazy, cynical longtime congressman running against a local bumpkin (Galifianakis).
—
Tim Grierson, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2025
Carter, perhaps the most decent man to ever occupy the Oval Office, was long written off as a country bumpkin, one who perhaps unsurprisingly left office as a one-term anomaly.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 9 Jan. 2025
Emily in Paris On Location: Hotel Plaza Athénée Paris
Rediscover Paris as Chicago bumpkin Emily (played by Lily Collins) moves there for a job and takes you to places like Galeries Lafayette, Galerie-Musee Baccarat and Hotel Plaza Athénée Paris.
—Forbes Travel Guide, Forbes, 14 Sep. 2024
At their worst, these histories, like the Soviet one, reduce Ukrainians to lazy, irresponsible, prejudiced country bumpkins with exaggerated penchants for vodka and violence.
—Alexander J. Motyl, Foreign Affairs, 4 Aug. 2016
There are no bumpkins in Hamaguchi’s movie, either—no one who can be reduced to a small-town, salt-of-the-earth cliché.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 3 May 2024
Working in a glass tower and living in the big city may still be the dream for a bumpkin like Jianlin, but China’s young urbans are starting to head in the opposite direction and seeking more comfortable lifestyles in the countryside.
—Mohamed El Aassar, Fortune, 25 Jan. 2024
But there’s a bitter and violent tone of hatred here that’s more reminiscent of 70s thrillers like Straw Dogs or Deliverance, where backwards country bumpkins take out their grievances on innocent newcomers.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 July 2023
These skirts are chic, fresh and modern, rather than stuffy or country bumpkin.
—Laura Fenton, Washington Post, 13 June 2023
Tim Grierson, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2025
Carter, perhaps the most decent man to ever occupy the Oval Office, was long written off as a country bumpkin, one who perhaps unsurprisingly left office as a one-term anomaly.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 9 Jan. 2025
Emily in Paris On Location: Hotel Plaza Athénée Paris
Rediscover Paris as Chicago bumpkin Emily (played by Lily Collins) moves there for a job and takes you to places like Galeries Lafayette, Galerie-Musee Baccarat and Hotel Plaza Athénée Paris.
—Forbes Travel Guide, Forbes, 14 Sep. 2024
At their worst, these histories, like the Soviet one, reduce Ukrainians to lazy, irresponsible, prejudiced country bumpkins with exaggerated penchants for vodka and violence.
—Alexander J. Motyl, Foreign Affairs, 4 Aug. 2016
There are no bumpkins in Hamaguchi’s movie, either—no one who can be reduced to a small-town, salt-of-the-earth cliché.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 3 May 2024
Working in a glass tower and living in the big city may still be the dream for a bumpkin like Jianlin, but China’s young urbans are starting to head in the opposite direction and seeking more comfortable lifestyles in the countryside.
—Mohamed El Aassar, Fortune, 25 Jan. 2024
But there’s a bitter and violent tone of hatred here that’s more reminiscent of 70s thrillers like Straw Dogs or Deliverance, where backwards country bumpkins take out their grievances on innocent newcomers.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 July 2023
These skirts are chic, fresh and modern, rather than stuffy or country bumpkin.
—Laura Fenton, Washington Post, 13 June 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bumpkin
Noun
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Sorrentino may also be exorcising some conflicting feelings about his birthplace, which is portrayed as a vulgar, crude place populated by crooks and hicks and photographed like its paradise.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
7 Feb. 2025
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In first grade, when a teacher called him a hick, Ciotti threw an inkwell at her.—
D. T. Max,
The New Yorker,
23 Sep. 2024
Noun
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This cotton peasant blouse may be simple, but it’s also guaranteed to become one of the most versatile pieces in your closet.—
Merrell Readman,
Travel + Leisure,
19 Mar. 2025
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By March 1525, the peasant armies had grown to encompass tens of thousands of peasants from Alsace to Austria and from Switzerland to Saxony.—
Michael Bruening,
The Conversation,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The latest scheme is to create a 2.5% business-to-business tax, a tax hidden in the costs of businesses so that those rubes also known as voters may not notice it.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
18 Mar. 2025
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Walsh’s male fantasists—the nameless rubes of Ballyturk, the desperate suitors of Penelope, even the heartbroken father at the center of Grief Is the Thing With Feathers—get to strut and bluster and scream into the wind.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
23 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Florida yokels versus the elite Hollywood movie-star kind of group.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
26 July 2024
-
Ben’s refusal to stand down for a middle-aged white man seeking to wrest power from him was radical, as was the film’s ending, in which the hero was shot by yokels failing to distinguish him from the zombies previously described as animals.—
Richard Newby,
The Hollywood Reporter,
23 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Mantle was the voluble hayseed from Oklahoma who could hit anything but was corrupted by the big city, and wound up undone by alcohol and knee injuries.—
Adam Gopnik,
The New Yorker,
21 June 2024
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Today, the variety shows’ wise-clown hayseeds (overalls, prosthetic teeth, silly hats, no shoes) are the ones who get all the good lines, whose material is distinctive in its political sensibility and cultural hobbyhorses.—
Rafil Kroll-Zaidi,
Harper's Magazine,
30 Mar. 2024
Noun
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This removed one of the last obstacles preventing poor provincials from governing the empire.—
Jeffrey E. Schulman / Made by History,
TIME,
20 Dec. 2024
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While early imperial aristocrats saw provincials as subject nations with their own cultures, their working-class replacements considered Romans a single people and expected all to share the same values.—
Jeffrey E. Schulman / Made by History,
TIME,
20 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Parsons called him a jealous clown, in so many words.—
Troy Renck,
The Denver Post,
15 Mar. 2025
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Who was the biggest Death of a Unicorn class clown?—
Jack Smart,
People.com,
14 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Off-mountain: Skiers who prefer to stay overnight in nearby Driggs, Idaho (a 20-minute drive from Grand Targhee) have a few rustic, albeit comfortable, possibilities.—
Lydia Mansel,
Travel + Leisure,
30 Dec. 2024
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Venues tend to lean rustic in much of Hillsborough County.—
Yacob Reyes,
Axios,
20 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Bumpkin.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bumpkin. Accessed 29 Mar. 2025.
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