rural

adjective

ru·​ral ˈru̇r(-ə)l 

ˈrər(-ə)l

: of or relating to the country, country people or life, or agriculture

rurality

ru̇-ˈra-lə-tē 

noun

rurally

ˈru̇r-ə-lē 

ˈrər-

adverb

Synonyms

• pastoral
• rustical
• country
• rustic
• bucolic

Examples of rural in a Sentence

She lives in a rural area.

grew up in a rural community where more than half the people were farmers

Recent Examples on the Web

The area is a vast, rural, mountainous tract of forests with a political ethos that resembles Texas more than Los Angeles, San Francisco, the state capital of Sacramento, and other liberal Democratic environs. —David Mark, The Washington Examiner, 5 Sep. 2025

To anyone else driving Highway 45 beside the rural Yolo County property, the distant birds may have looked like dots against the water, akin to the sight of cattle grazing miles into an open pasture. —Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 4 Sep. 2025

Set in the rural highlands, the film follows two estranged brothers who reunite in the land of their birth. —Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2025

The disaster is remembered not just for its winds, but for the crushing surge of water that devastated rural Louisiana parishes and tore through the heart of New Orleans. —Sarah Alegre, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin ruralis, from rur-, rus open land — more at room

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing rural

• rural dean
• rural free delivery
• rural route

Rhymes for rural

• crural
• dural
• jural
• mural
• neural
• pleural
• plural
• extramural
• intramural
• intrapleural
• figural
• flexural

Kids Definition

rural

adjective

ru·​ral ˈru̇r-əl 

: of or relating to the country, country people or life, or agriculture