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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

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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 churl The churl’s view. Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 11 July 2021 But the cartoonish executive in Episode 1 will require a Grinch-like turnaround to become anything but a clownish churl. Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 12 Mar. 2022 Only a churl would lament the existence of these testaments to the out-of-nowhere potential of a great pop hit. Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for churl
Noun
  • There are no coffins or headstones in the Catacombs, with the bones of the princes and kings mixed with peasants and non-nobility.
    Dave Brooks, Billboard, 5 June 2025
  • In those villages, Sesa said, Prevost ate whatever was offered to him, including the peasant diet consisting of potatoes, cheese and sweet corn.
    Franklin Briceno, Chicago Tribune, 9 May 2025
Noun
  • But as the legend grew, so did the myths — such as that of Comiskey being a miser, forcing his players to seek compensation through gamblers.
    Ronald Blum, Chicago Tribune, 14 May 2025
  • Julia Soares, an assistant professor of cognitive science at Mississippi State University, said this tendency aligns with the decades-old social science concept of the cognitive miser.
    Celia Ford, Vox, 10 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Without so many of the fears, complexes, and prejudices hick shaped us in the ‘90s and the ‘00s.
    John Hopewell, Variety, 20 June 2025
  • Sorrentino may also be exorcising some conflicting feelings about his birthplace, which is portrayed as a vulgar, crude place populated by crooks and hicks and photographed like its paradise.
    David Fear, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Words like bully, arrogant, tyrant, and jerk often top the list.
    Mary Crossan, Forbes.com, 23 July 2025
  • What once sat blank and unmoving begins to flow and creak and jerk beneath its own weight.
    Laura Poppick July 22, Literary Hub, 22 July 2025
Noun
  • The early stages of a comedian’s career is about finding your clown — the core of what is funny about you — and then acclimating audiences to it.
    Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 30 July 2025
  • In a surreal mix of live-action and AI imagery, the film follows a talented clown who loses her sense of self while seeking audience approval.
    Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 28 July 2025
Noun
  • Police brought in hundreds of law enforcement personnel with dogs, armored carriers, horses and helicopters that circled overhead.
    Maryclaire Dale, Marc Levy and Michael Rubinkam, Anchorage Daily News, 13 Sep. 2023
  • According to LifeLine, the DeKalb shelter takes in 135 dogs a week on average.
    Jim Gaines, ajc, 13 Sep. 2023
Noun
  • 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
Noun
  • It was adapted into a huge hit movie starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray, but the breakout characters were local yokels Ma and Pa Kettle, who went on to star in eight spinoff movies.
    Brian Boone, Vulture, 18 June 2025
  • To the yokel who makes his donations in cash and is proud of himself for knowing what LEO stands for.
    Ticked Off, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Churl.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/churl. Accessed 8 Aug. 2025.

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