as in bumpkin
an awkward or simple person especially from a small town or the country
city dwellers who looked down on their cousins from northern Maine as hicks
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in hickish
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
2
as in unsophisticated
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of hick
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
Bethy Squires, Vulture, 13 Oct. 2025
One is a sick herb; the other is a hick Serb.
—Washington Post, 18 Nov. 2021
See All Example Sentences for hick
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
Allen’s enduring affection for Keaton is as evident on the page as his insistence that Los Angeles (where Keaton was born and raised) is a hick town.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 13 Oct. 2025
One is a sick herb; the other is a hick Serb.
—Washington Post, 18 Nov. 2021
See All Example Sentences for hick
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hick
Noun
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Simply put, the small-town bumpkins from North Florida who support this idea should be made to pay for it.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
18 Feb. 2026
-
Clifton loved motorcycles and, as Hawkins said, was a country bumpkin who loved nature.—
Craig Shoup,
Nashville Tennessean,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Rock and pop are often unsophisticated, or downright dumb.—
Jed Gottlieb,
Boston Herald,
26 Mar. 2026
-
Many are installed with minimal security by unsophisticated users who fail to set up passwords or install security patches.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
23 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Part of his way of taking it yokel — besides bringing in Foo Fighter Rami Jaffee on accordion and Willie Aron blowing harmonica — was to add a previously unheard yodel to the chorus.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
27 Oct. 2025
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It was adapted into a huge hit movie starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray, but the breakout characters were local yokels Ma and Pa Kettle, who went on to star in eight spinoff movies.—
Brian Boone,
Vulture,
18 June 2025
Adjective
-
Because of his ability to appeal to jurors with at times folksy explanations of gruesome subjects like the dynamic of blood spatter, prosecution and defense lawyers competed for his testimony at trials.—
Edmund H. Mahony,
Hartford Courant,
27 Mar. 2026
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The report marks the first year Berkshire’s annual letter to shareholders wasn’t penned by Buffett, 95, whose folksy financial wisdom was a must-read for many investors.—
Auzinea Bacon,
CNN Money,
28 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Your strength and your commitment told us that this is still America, and this reactionary nightmare — and these invasions of American cities — will not stand.—
Jessica Lynch,
Billboard,
29 Mar. 2026
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Your strength and your commitment told us that this is still America, and this reactionary nightmare — and these invasions of American cities — will not stand.—
Daniel Kreps,
Rolling Stone,
28 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Using his Hollywood makeup father’s prosthetics, Holliday transforms himself into hayseed-like Chad Powers.—
Baz Bamigboye,
Deadline,
30 Sep. 2025
-
Baby Billy’s first full-frontal scene is more a testament to Walton Goggins’s incredible hayseed bravado in the rule.—
Scott Tobias,
Vulture,
31 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Timed to coincide with Cactus League spring training, the countrified Innings Fest offshoot is in its third year, bringing 20 artists with no overlapping sets to two main stages.—
Ed Masley,
AZCentral.com,
26 Feb. 2026
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The look blended ornate embroidery with a Western spin, merging high fashion with Wilson’s countrified finesse.—
Julia Teti,
Footwear News,
17 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
All those unsuspecting rubes with no idea what’s about to hit them.—
Joe Hagan,
Vanity Fair,
18 Mar. 2026
-
And yet, to holier-than-thou doctors like young Ogilvie (Lucas Iverson), Howard is a cautionary tale: a glutton who can’t control himself, a rube who hasn’t heard of Ozempic, and a lazy slouch who can’t manage to drag himself to aqua aerobics.—
Marah Eakin,
Vulture,
6 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hick.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hick. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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