hick 1 of 2

noun

ˈhik How to pronounce hick (audio)
Definition of hicknext
as in bumpkin
an awkward or simple person especially from a small town or the country city dwellers who looked down on their cousins from northern Maine as hicks

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

hick

2 of 2

adjective

1
as in hickish

Related Words

Dissimilar Words
2
as in unsophisticated

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Dissimilar Words

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 hick
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
Adjective
Allen’s enduring affection for Keaton is as evident on the page as his insistence that Los Angeles (where Keaton was born and raised) is a hick town. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 13 Oct. 2025 Rimac moved to Germany at age 2 and then to an independent Croatia in his early teens, where he was teased for his hick Bosnian accent. — Ben Oliver, Robb Report, 3 Oct. 2021 See All Example Sentences for hick
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hick
  1. bumpkin
  2. folksy
  3. unsophisticated
  4. yokel
  5. countrified
  6. reactionary
  7. hayseed
  8. down-home
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
Adjective
  • And the folksy score and silly musical interludes help the audience speed through the story at a delightful, oh-so-welcome 78 minutes.
    — Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 17 July 2026
  • That voice — warm but firm, clear yet folksy, deliberate and passionate — rings through every gallery, praising past heroes and encouraging future ones.
    — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 4 June 2026
Definition of folksy
Adjective
  • Sophisticated scams The days of thinking of scammers as unsophisticated, disjointed actors are over in 2026, according to Yoon.
    — Ella Moore July 2, Miami Herald, 2 July 2026
  • Phishing remains one of the most effective means of gaining access to accounts, despite the relatively unsophisticated technical prowess required.
    — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 29 June 2026
Definition of unsophisticated
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
Adjective
  • Lines that seem artlessly off-the-cuff on first pass accrue an unexpected weight and purpose the fourth time through; the countrified guitar lick that sounds so chipper at the start of a song is dripping with melancholy by the end.
    — Stuart Berman, Pitchfork, 4 June 2026
  • Timed to coincide with Cactus League spring training, the countrified Innings Fest offshoot is in its third year, bringing 20 artists with no overlapping sets to two main stages.
    — Ed Masley, AZCentral.com, 26 Feb. 2026
Definition of countrified
Adjective
  • The lesson here is not that Latinos are uniquely reactionary.
    — Eladio Bobadilla, Mercury News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Sadly, there is a large and growing audience for this reactionary analysis.
    — James Kirchick, The Atlantic, 29 July 2026
Definition of reactionary
Noun
  • Duke Slater, pal of Jim Nabors’ hayseed Gomer Pyle on the ’60s sitcom of that name, died of natural causes today at UCLA Hospital in Los Angeles.
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 12 June 2026
  • Baby Billy’s first full-frontal scene is more a testament to Walton Goggins’s incredible hayseed bravado in the rule.
    — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 31 Mar. 2025
Definition of hayseed
Adjective
  • In that light, a collection consisting of nothing but down-home music could be seen as the ultimate joke from a pair of indie-punk jesters.
    — Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Pitchfork, 1 Aug. 2026
  • Breakfast remains relatively stable, with down-home Southern fare like country ham with red-eye gravy or pancakes with sausage available, alongside a daily special or two.
    — Karla Walsh, Southern Living, 24 July 2026
Definition of down-home

Browse Nearby Words

hic jacets
hick
hickey
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Cite this Entry

“Hick.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hick. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of hick for Spanish Speakers

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