bucolic

play

adjective bu·col·ic \ 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

—

bucolically

play \-li-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

See bucolic defined for English-language learners

See bucolic defined for kids

bucolic was our Word of the Day on 04/21/2017. Hear the podcast!

Examples of bucolic in a Sentence

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
… 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
… 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
… 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
a bucolic region where farms are still common

Recent Examples of bucolic from the Web

On this sunny Monday afternoon in a bucolic stretch of southwest suburbia, both seem to make a connection.

— donna vickroy, Daily Southtown, "Miniature horses bring joy, tender mercies across south suburbs," 16 Aug. 2017
After so many seasons in the bucolic small town of Storybrooke, moving to a more urban setting with Seattle opens up a new tone.

— emma dibdin, Cosmopolitan, "Once Upon A Time," 7 Aug. 2017
Back in Washington, however, the mood at the White House was hardly bucolic.

— isobel thompson, The Hive, "Under Siege, Jared Kushner Goes on the Attack," 14 July 2017
DiNardo's parents, Antonio and Sandra DiNardo, own the farm in upper Bucks County, a bucolic area with rolling hillsides, new housing developments and historic sites.

— crimesider staff, CBS News, "Parents of person of interest in case of missing men subpoenaed to testify before grand jury," 13 July 2017
Late last October, Johnny Depp sat for dinner with two forensic accountants and his business manager of six months, Ed White, in the bucolic backyard of White’s house, in Bel Air, California.

— mark seal, Vanities, "How Did Johnny Depp Find Himself in a Financial Crisis?," 11 July 2017
Sterle's was first opened by Slovenian immigrant Frank Sterle in 1954, and generations of Clevelanders have polka-ed, pierogied and schnitzeled under its bucolic Slovenian murals.

— laura demarco, cleveland.com, "Clevelanders can still get Sterle's Old World favorites: Here's where ...," 30 June 2017
Japanese, mostly—to gather in public places and team up to make quick work of the megafauna that roam its bucolic scenes.

— simon parkin, Ars Technica, "Monster Hunter: World promises “deep, meaty experience on console”," 26 June 2017
Twenty minutes tend to separate leafy mansions from struggling inner cities, or bucolic homes from decaying industrial outposts.

— lara n. dotson-renta, The Atlantic, "Inside Connecticut's Education-Funding Turmoil," 25 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bucolic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

The Origin of bucolic is "Utterly" Quaint

We get bucolic from the Latin word bucolicus, which is ultimately from the Greek word boukolos, meaning "cowherd." When bucolic was first used in English in the early 17th century, it meant "pastoral" in a narrow sense - that is, it referred to things related to shepherds or herdsmen and in particular to pastoral poetry. Later in the 19th century, it was applied more broadly to things rural or rustic. Bucolic has also been occasionally used as a noun meaning "a pastoral poem" or "a bucolic person."

Origin and Etymology 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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1609

See Words from the same year