bucolic

bu·col·ic

adj \byü-ˈkä-lik\

Definition of BUCOLIC

1

: of or relating to shepherds or herdsmen : pastoral

2

a : relating to or typical of rural life b : idyllic

— bu·col·i·cal·ly \-li-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

Examples of BUCOLIC

1. <a bucolic region where farms are still common>
2. Pine Ridge … . Its generic blandness and vaguely bucolic quality anticipated similar names—the Oak Parks and River Groves and Lake Forests and Chestnut Hills … —Ian Frazier, On the Rez, 2000
3. … the massive population growth has transformed a collection of bucolic villages and mill towns into a chain of strip-mall suburbs. —Jonathan Cohn, New Republic, 7 Feb. 2000
4. … Intel gives its generations of microprocessors such bucolic code names as Deschutes, Tillamook, and Katmai but then rolls them out with names that rival those of popes and medieval heads of state: Pentium the III, Celeron the Meek, and Xeon the Magnificent. —Jake Kirchner, PC Magazine, 25 May 1999
5. … the North Shore commuter train scuds through bucolic landscape for a while, the rocks and trees permitting glimpses of Appleton Farms … —John Updike, New England Monthly, October 1989

Origin of BUCOLIC

Latin bucolicus, from Greek boukolikos, from boukolos cowherd, from bous head of cattle + -kolos (akin to Latin colere to cultivate) — more at cow, wheel

First Known Use: circa 1609

Related to BUCOLIC

Synonyms: rural, country, pastoral, rustic (also rustical)

Antonyms: urban

Related Words: backwoods, backwoodsy, countrified (also countryfied), provincial; agrarian, agricultural; nonurban, semirural

Near Antonyms: citified, urbanized; metro, metropolitan, municipal; nonagricultural, nonfarm

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Rhymes with BUCOLIC

Aeolic, Argolic, carbolic, embolic, Mongolic, symbolic, systolic