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
John Hopewell, Variety, 20 June 2025
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
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
Without so many of the fears, complexes, and prejudices hick shaped us in the ‘90s and the ‘00s.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 20 June 2025
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
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
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That voice — warm but firm, clear yet folksy, deliberate and passionate — rings through every gallery, praising past heroes and encouraging future ones.—
Justin Davidson,
Curbed,
4 June 2026
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Bender and David thought Gore’s folksy delivery of complicated scientific and climatological information would lend itself to a documentary that might add urgency to environmental policy debates.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
20 May 2026
Adjective
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This handed unsophisticated attackers a preview of what’s coming.—
Lily Mae Lazarus,
Fortune,
8 June 2026
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Still, the film has its rewards, mostly of the unsophisticated kind, since the fight sequences come fast and furious and the cheesy dialogue has enough groan-worthy one-liners to inspire a thousand drinking games.—
Frank Scheck,
HollywoodReporter,
6 May 2026
Noun
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It was left to the feds in Boston to arrest Farwell, after Meatball’s local yokels adamantly refused to do anything other than try to broom the crime by one of their own.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
26 Apr. 2026
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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
Adjective
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Lines that seem artlessly off-the-cuff on first pass accrue an unexpected weight and purpose the fourth time through; the countrified guitar lick that sounds so chipper at the start of a song is dripping with melancholy by the end.—
Stuart Berman,
Pitchfork,
4 June 2026
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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
Adjective
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Only within the logic of an authoritarian or deeply reactionary culture can justice and beauty become controversial aims.—
The Atlantic,
The Atlantic,
16 June 2026
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Garrett says the new protocols acknowledge that academic institutions have the responsibility to take steps for the safety of their researchers and protect them from potentially dangerous interactions with conspiracy theorists and other reactionary zealots.—
Emma Gometz,
Scientific American,
12 June 2026
Noun
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Duke Slater, pal of Jim Nabors’ hayseed Gomer Pyle on the ’60s sitcom of that name, died of natural causes today at UCLA Hospital in Los Angeles.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
12 June 2026
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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
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This Texas beach town often flies under the radar, but those that are privy to its down-home charm and scenic vistas tend to come back season after season.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
18 May 2026
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Keeping with the down-home vibe, there are fire pits, a vegetable garden, and a communal lodge hangout space.—
Christina Pérez,
Vogue,
8 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hick.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hick. Accessed 24 Jun. 2026.
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