churl

noun

ˈchər(-ə)l How to pronounce churl (audio)
Definition of churlnext
1
as in peasant
an awkward or simple person especially from a small town or the country as far as he was concerned, anyone from outside the city was a backwater churl

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in miser
a mean grasping person who is usually stingy with money don't bother asking for donations at that house—the churl who lives there believes that charity begins and ends at home

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in bastard
a person whose behavior is offensive to others a churl who gets thrown out of parties with remarkable regularity

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for churl
  1. peasant
  2. miser
  3. jerk
  4. hick
  5. dog
  6. clown
  7. bumpkin
  8. yokel
Noun
  • The narrative centers on the early careers and shifting dynamic between legendary figures Cao Cao and Yuan Shao as political corruption, peasant rebellions, and personal ambitions push the capital of Luoyang into absolute chaos.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 13 July 2026
  • Those immigration conditions led to decades of stateside stereotypes of Italians as poor and violent and their diet ridiculed as peasant grub.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2026
Definition of peasant
Noun
  • Equally vital, aging misers addicted to their vocations need palliatives and surrogates for the drug of importance.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 June 2026
  • Francesca Fiorentini, a comedian and podcaster, compared Steyer to Charles Dickens’ fictional miser Ebenezer Scrooge.
    — Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2026
Definition of miser
Noun
  • Led and inspired by Chef Wayne Sharpe, this fast Jamaican restaurant serves iconic island meals like jerk chicken, jerk shrimp, vegan jerk, pineapple plantains, rice and peas, and Jamaican patties.
    — Alexandra Phelps July 15, Miami Herald, 15 July 2026
  • Bates plans to expand that menu in the new brick-and-mortar restaurant, adding dishes like jerk catfish pasta and Louisiana Cajun cream sauce over dirty rice.
    — Joey Schamber, jsonline.com, 8 July 2026
Definition of jerk
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.
    — Wendy Naugle, USA Today, 14 Apr. 2026
  • 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
Definition of hick
Noun
  • On Saturday, rescue crews aided by dogs and detectors found signs of life, confirming that at least one survivor was still trapped beneath the rubble.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 19 July 2026
  • Most famously, in 1966 the trophy was found underneath a hedge by a dog called Pickles a week after thieves had taken it from Westminster Central Hall, London, following England’s victory.
    — Eduardo Tansley, New York Times, 19 July 2026
Definition of dog
Noun
  • Perhaps most astonishingly, the movie manages to make creepy clowns — that shopworn trope — genuinely frightening again.
    — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 7 July 2026
  • The group demonstrated near the Washington Monument and was met by a few counter protestors, one of which played clown music throughout the majority of the demonstration.
    — Antonio Pequeño IV, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026
Definition of clown
Noun
  • 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
Definition of bumpkin
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.
    — Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 26 Apr. 2026
  • Part of his way of taking it yokel — besides bringing in Foo Fighter Rami Jaffee on accordion and Willie Aron blowing harmonica — was to add a previously unheard yodel to the chorus.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 27 Oct. 2025
Definition of yokel
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.

Browse Nearby Words

churchyards
churl
churlish
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Churl.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/churl. Accessed 19 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on churl

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about churl

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 17
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
child-detective
Spot the Misspelled Word July 2026 Those little red underlines can't help you now...
See All