as in parochial
not broad or open in views or opinions
some people regard a fear of new things as an unmistakable sign of a provincial attitude
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in peasant
an awkward or simple person especially from a small town or the country
the confidence man figured that fleecing these provincials would be easy
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of provincial
Brian Hamilton, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2025
This year the rebels have made significant gains, including seizing the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu.
—Kate Bartlett, NPR, 3 Apr. 2025
Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 1 Nov. 2021
Canada’s capital is under two states of emergency, one local and another provincial.
—Washington Post, 12 Feb. 2022
See All Example Sentences for provincial
Adjective
There will be the usual provincial arguments about which league was actually the strongest.
—Brian Hamilton, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2025
This year the rebels have made significant gains, including seizing the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu.
—Kate Bartlett, NPR, 3 Apr. 2025
Noun
It’s shaped like a classic coming-of-age tale: a young provincial, Eloise Turner (Thomasin McKenzie), goes to the metropolis to realize her dreams and, in the process, has her illusions dispelled.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 1 Nov. 2021
Canada’s capital is under two states of emergency, one local and another provincial.
—Washington Post, 12 Feb. 2022
See All Example Sentences for provincial
Recent Examples of Synonyms for provincial
Adjective
-
The plum political prize, of course, will be deciding how congressional districts are drawn, perhaps giving this parochial court a major say in which party—and its preferred Speaker—gets to run the U.S. House.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
31 Mar. 2025
-
There is nothing more parochial or bland than being a soft, white Anglican kid from Ottawa.—
Graydon Carter,
The Atlantic,
14 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
The Gospel authors, far from being community leaders preserving oral sayings for largely illiterate followers, were highly literate members of a small, erudite upper crust, distant in experience, attitude, and geography from any Galilean peasant preachers.—
Adam Gopnik,
The New Yorker,
24 Mar. 2025
-
Set in the Alentejo region of southern Portugal, where Mateus was raised, a peasant community of grape-pickers become agents in an open-air ritual of remembrance and rebellion.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
26 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
In 2022, a consortium of private retirement-plan providers announced a collaboration to boost the portability of small retirement accounts.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
20 Apr. 2025
-
The space consists of two levels—one for dancing and one for dining at small cocktail tables.—
Claire Hoppe Norgaard,
Better Homes & Gardens,
19 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
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
Adjective
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Image In Davao, Mr. Duterte remains widely popular, remembered for cracking down on problems like drugs, petty crime and violence.—
Aie Balagtas See,
New York Times,
5 Apr. 2025
-
Where Hub once pursued petty criminals, he’s now charged with rounding up escaped demons by the Devil himself.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
3 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Classical Rudersdal, Denmark, situated beside Copenhagen and along the open coast, exists in a perpetual tug-of-war between the rustic and the modern.—
Helen Shaw,
New Yorker,
11 Apr. 2025
-
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
Adjective
-
On Saturday, the narrow field caused both teams to adapt to tighter spaces and quicker play.—
Felipe Cardenas,
New York Times,
20 Apr. 2025
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The plain and active meaning of the word cannot be diluted by its constriction, as the government would have it, to a narrow term of art.—
TIME Staff,
Time,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
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
Cite this Entry
“Provincial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/provincial. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
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