bucolic

adjective bu·col·ic \ byü-ˈkä-lik \

|Updated on: 14 Jul 2018

Examples: bucolic in a Sentence

Editor's Note: The Origin of bucolic is "Utterly" Quaint

Definition of bucolic

1 : of or relating to shepherds or herdsmen : pastoral

2 a : relating to or typical of rural life

b : idyllic

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bucolically

play \-li-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

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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

Once a year, the bucolic grounds of Goodwood House in West Sussex, England, are consumed by the smell of exhaust fumes, the sound of engines revving, and an excited crowd of 100,000 people, all wanting a look at the special cars on show.

— jack stewart, WIRED, "A Racing Robocar Takes On England's Swankiest Track," 7 July 2018
After the artist Elizabeth Bodman died in 2015, a bucolic landscape painting was discovered in her cellar.

— brigit katz, Smithsonian, "Rare Landscape Attributed to Lucian Freud Discovered Underneath Another Work," 6 July 2018
But Pine Trace is a perfect blend of bucolic wonderland and demanding golf.

— carlos monarrez, Detroit Free Press, "Top 10 metro Detroit public golf courses for 2018," 6 July 2018
Ahead of the scheduled reopening at 5 p.m., protesters and hopeful customers gathered on the bucolic street corner outside the Red Hen, just across from the Stonewall Jackson House.

— caroline simon, USA TODAY, "For the first time since Sanders' visit, the Red Hen opens amid protests," 5 July 2018
The ad relies on preexisting inklings about the city, like the one perpetuated by the television show Frasier, as a bucolic paradise for outdoor life and white-collar professionalism.

— dae shik kim hawkins, The Atlantic, "An App for Ejecting the Homeless," 28 June 2018
Namphy was originally from Grande-Rivière-du-Nord, a bucolic town on the outskirts of Cap-Haitian, Haiti's second largest city.

— jacqueline charles, miamiherald, "Henri Namphy, one-time coup leader and Haiti president, dies in Dominican Republic," 27 June 2018
Their landscape is postindustrial with a fragmented bucolic overlay.

— jedediah purdy, The New Republic, "The Remaking of Class," 27 June 2018
The Ivoryton Playhouse, in a bucolic village of Essex, has cornered the market on musicalized urban teen angst.

— christopher arnott, courant.com, "'Grease' Slips Into Ivoryton Playhouse," 26 June 2018

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

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year