as in hick
an awkward or simple person especially from a small town or the country
the bumpkin was overwhelmed by the city's confusing subway system
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bumpkin
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
Ma and Pa Kent are the most stereotypical country bumpkins imaginable.
—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
9 July 2025
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
Carter, perhaps the most decent man to ever occupy the Oval Office, was long written off as a country bumpkin, one who perhaps unsurprisingly left office as a one-term anomaly.
—
Philip Elliott,
TIME,
9 Jan. 2025
Emily in Paris On Location: Hotel Plaza Athénée Paris
Rediscover Paris as Chicago bumpkin Emily (played by Lily Collins) moves there for a job and takes you to places like Galeries Lafayette, Galerie-Musee Baccarat and Hotel Plaza Athénée Paris.
—
Forbes Travel Guide,
Forbes,
14 Sep. 2024
There are no bumpkins in Hamaguchi’s movie, either—no one who can be reduced to a small-town, salt-of-the-earth cliché.
—
Justin Chang,
The New Yorker,
3 May 2024
At their worst, these histories, like the Soviet one, reduce Ukrainians to lazy, irresponsible, prejudiced country bumpkins with exaggerated penchants for vodka and violence.
—
Alexander J. Motyl,
Foreign Affairs,
4 Aug. 2016
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
Ma and Pa Kent are the most stereotypical country bumpkins imaginable.
—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
9 July 2025
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
Carter, perhaps the most decent man to ever occupy the Oval Office, was long written off as a country bumpkin, one who perhaps unsurprisingly left office as a one-term anomaly.
—
Philip Elliott,
TIME,
9 Jan. 2025
Emily in Paris On Location: Hotel Plaza Athénée Paris
Rediscover Paris as Chicago bumpkin Emily (played by Lily Collins) moves there for a job and takes you to places like Galeries Lafayette, Galerie-Musee Baccarat and Hotel Plaza Athénée Paris.
—
Forbes Travel Guide,
Forbes,
14 Sep. 2024
There are no bumpkins in Hamaguchi’s movie, either—no one who can be reduced to a small-town, salt-of-the-earth cliché.
—
Justin Chang,
The New Yorker,
3 May 2024
At their worst, these histories, like the Soviet one, reduce Ukrainians to lazy, irresponsible, prejudiced country bumpkins with exaggerated penchants for vodka and violence.
—
Alexander J. Motyl,
Foreign Affairs,
4 Aug. 2016
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bumpkin
Noun
-
When Johnson was vice president and visiting Europe, there were reports filed by these British ambassadors in several countries that basically made fun of him as a hick.
-
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.
Noun
-
The back-to-the-land aesthetic of peasant skirts, head scarves, and florals seems to seep into fashion at this time of year, but a distinctly folk vibe is now taking over interiors too.
-
Most urban Russians in those days were little more than one generation removed from their peasant roots, so just about everyone remembered the relevant skills.
Noun
-
All those unsuspecting rubes with no idea what’s about to hit them.
-
That set-up makes Cole relatively unique among prediction markets’ headliners, many of whom are suspected of exploiting insider info to dupe rubes for short-term gains.
Noun
-
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.
Noun
-
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.
-
Baby Billy’s first full-frontal scene is more a testament to Walton Goggins’s incredible hayseed bravado in the rule.
Noun
-
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.
-
Sanders is a Catholic priest and former Augustinian provincial in California and lives in the Augustinian community in North Park.
Noun
-
The only leaders more buffoonish and lethal than the fairground hucksters elected in our failing democracies are the omnipotent clowns of tyranny.
-
Up until his first day of filming Jackass, Steve-O was a clown in nightclubs, cruise ships and at a flea-market circus.
Noun
-
Big Cedar Lodge Ridgedale, Missouri For a luxury-meets-rustic escape, head to Big Cedar Lodge overlooking Table Rock Lake.
-
Cozy rustic Certain styles readily lend themselves to small spaces.
Cite this Entry
“Bumpkin.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bumpkin. Accessed 30 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
