rube

noun

ˈrüb 

1

: an awkward unsophisticated person : rustic

2

: a naive or inexperienced person

Synonyms

• bumpkin
• chawbacon
• churl
• clodhopper
• cornball
• countryman
• hayseed
• hick
• provincial
• rustic
• yokel

Examples of rube in a Sentence

They treated us as if we were a bunch of rubes.

rural voters were tired of being treated as rubes by state officials, who showed interest in them only at election time

Recent Examples on the Web

Sometimes, the film’s examination of excess can simply be excessive, but The Wolf of Wall Street is hypnotizing — and a damning condemnation of us poor rubes. —Will Leitch, Vulture, 8 Mar. 2024

Play your cards right and a meal can be made with minimal effort; just don’t be the rube who stalks the kitchen door. —Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Mar. 2024

For a yutz like me, a business rube, what’s some advice about how to win a negotiation? —David Marchese David Marchese Photograph By Mamadi Doumbouya, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2023

There’s a certain kind of theater parody made by theater people, where the characters are either provincial rubes or name-dropping, Olivier-quoting grandees of their local scene, and theater is made out to be a kind of small-town cult for the flamboyantly uncool. —Vulture Staff, Vulture, 20 Oct. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Rube, nickname for Reuben

First Known Use

1891, in the meaning defined at sense 1