as in peasant
an awkward or simple person especially from a small town or the country
a rustic who was awed by the prices that city dwellers had to pay
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
variants
also rustical
1
as in uncomfortable
lacking social grace and assurance
rustic yokels whose first impulse was to smirk gawkily at anyone not of their own kind
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in rural
of, relating to, associated with, or typical of open areas with few buildings or people
a rustic area that has a refreshing lack of billboards and shopping malls
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of rustic
Rick Jordan, Travel + Leisure, 8 Feb. 2026
Neither modish nor cookie-cutter rustic in aesthetic, the hotel, tucked away off the main street in the village of Malfa, feels like a genuine home, where old framed maps, ceramics, pots, and paintings, along with other antiques, have been collected over the years.
—Rosalyn Wikeley, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Jan. 2026
Midwest Living, 11 June 2026
Breen won the prestigious Hickstead Derby in 2022 — one of the world’s toughest jumping classes and one that marries the sport’s rustic origins with modern-day innovations.
—Tilly Berendt, New York Times, 11 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for rustic
Noun
It is centred around a striking building topped with turf, a nod to Iceland’s traditional architecture, with aqueduct-like arches and an angular timber roof inside—a little Hobbit-like, a little sci-fi rustic.
—Rick Jordan, Travel + Leisure, 8 Feb. 2026
Neither modish nor cookie-cutter rustic in aesthetic, the hotel, tucked away off the main street in the village of Malfa, feels like a genuine home, where old framed maps, ceramics, pots, and paintings, along with other antiques, have been collected over the years.
—Rosalyn Wikeley, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Jan. 2026
Adjective
Don’t leave without dropping by the rustic farm store to peruse body lotions and scrubs handcrafted onsite with the farm’s lavender essential oils.
—Midwest Living, 11 June 2026
Breen won the prestigious Hickstead Derby in 2022 — one of the world’s toughest jumping classes and one that marries the sport’s rustic origins with modern-day innovations.
—Tilly Berendt, New York Times, 11 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for rustic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rustic
Noun
-
Wear with just a white bralette or a peasant top, fully tapping into the historical allusions.—
Stacia Datskovska,
Footwear News,
26 May 2026
-
In another Pratt video, the Republican hopeful suits up as Batman and overthrows the corrupt court of incumbent Democratic Mayor Karen Bass; sitting in her throne, glowering at peasants, she’s pelted with tomatoes that smudge her Joker facepaint.—
David Weigel,
semafor.com,
13 May 2026
Adjective
-
Still, the atmosphere was uncomfortable enough that Habermas left the institute a year later, to write his Habilitation, or second dissertation, a requirement for qualifying as a professor in German universities.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
15 June 2026
-
Don’t suffer through summer in uncomfortable shoes.—
Maggie Horton,
PEOPLE,
15 June 2026
Adjective
-
Created by Stageco, a Belgian event staging company, it was shipped internationally to the rural Pennsylvania headquarters of UFC partner TAIT Towers.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
15 June 2026
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The air can be so quiet in the Bates County town of Butler, a rural community of 4,400 one hour south of Kansas City, that when the skydivers, often strapped in tandem, pop their chutes, neighbors Daniel and Kendra Stewart can hear the wafting sound of them filling with air.—
Eric Adler,
Kansas City Star,
15 June 2026
Noun
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Marlowe, the son of a poor Canterbury cobbler, and Shakespeare, the son of a Stratford glover and alderman, were both unlikely artistic geniuses, provincials in a nation in which social class was rigidly fixed.—
Heller McAlpin,
Christian Science Monitor,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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These memories of his brief, sad human life are uneasy dreams that Lestat wakes from on his tour bus as the sun sets over the road to Toledo.—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
15 June 2026
-
On top of the tense, uneasy dynamic created by the duo’s pairing, the series is wrapped in a twisty web of peripheral problems.—
Matt Cabral,
Entertainment Weekly,
15 June 2026
Noun
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So a bunch of hicks from Topeka were left up to our own devices of going down to Robert Hall and finding something that might be kind of cool.—
Devon Ivie,
Vulture,
8 Apr. 2026
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Which is to say, this isn’t the story of a greedy, materialistic man who suffers a crisis of conscience while trying to pry a priceless treasure away from an uneducated hick who doesn’t know any better.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Despite a clumsy apology tour, Hogan was never able to completely shake his darkest moment.—
Alfred Konuwa,
Forbes.com,
24 July 2025
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Stupid, clumsy, slow, sloppy, weak, dirty.—
Jeanine Santucci,
USA Today,
24 July 2025
Noun
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Ma and Pa Kent are the most stereotypical country bumpkins imaginable.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
9 July 2025
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Going to the Ron Burgundy–Ricky Bobby idiot well one time too many, Ferrell plays Cam Brady, a lazy, cynical longtime congressman running against a local bumpkin (Galifianakis).—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
4 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rustic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rustic. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
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