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
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
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Recent Examples of hick
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
Bethy Squires, Vulture, 13 Oct. 2025
One is a sick herb; the other is a hick Serb.
—Washington Post, 18 Nov. 2021
See All Example Sentences for 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
One is a sick herb; the other is a hick Serb.
—Washington Post, 18 Nov. 2021
See All Example Sentences for hick
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hick
Noun
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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
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Clifton loved motorcycles and, as Hawkins said, was a country bumpkin who loved nature.—
Craig Shoup,
Nashville Tennessean,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Still, the film has its rewards, mostly of the unsophisticated kind, since the fight sequences come fast and furious and the cheesy dialogue has enough groan-worthy one-liners to inspire a thousand drinking games.—
Frank Scheck,
HollywoodReporter,
6 May 2026
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Since then, officials have also warned that even unsophisticated drones can pose serious risks.—
Nicole Sganga,
CBS News,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
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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
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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
Adjective
-
Bender and David thought Gore’s folksy delivery of complicated scientific and climatological information would lend itself to a documentary that might add urgency to environmental policy debates.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
20 May 2026
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But Kainerugaba lacks the public charisma and folksy style of Museveni, who has kept power in part by striking deals with his political rivals and even convincing some to serve in his government.—
Rodney Muhumuza,
Los Angeles Times,
12 May 2026
Adjective
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Here, as ever, Kokopeli suggests that clinging to youthful talismans offers no protection against uncertainty, and reasserts the odd mix of disaffection and morbid glee produced by such reactionary impulses.—
Theo Belci,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
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Even when The Breadwinner starts to tiptoe toward potential reactionary ideas about who belongs in the workplace and who belongs at home, the movie backs off and makes sure that no leaves the theater riled up.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
28 May 2026
Noun
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Using his Hollywood makeup father’s prosthetics, Holliday transforms himself into hayseed-like Chad Powers.—
Baz Bamigboye,
Deadline,
30 Sep. 2025
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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
Adjective
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He’s best known for a countrified new-wave band called Rubber Rodeo, with Gary Leib, a SUSS cofounder who died in 2021.—
Brian Howe,
Pitchfork,
12 May 2026
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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
Noun
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All those unsuspecting rubes with no idea what’s about to hit them.—
Joe Hagan,
Vanity Fair,
18 Mar. 2026
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And yet, to holier-than-thou doctors like young Ogilvie (Lucas Iverson), Howard is a cautionary tale: a glutton who can’t control himself, a rube who hasn’t heard of Ozempic, and a lazy slouch who can’t manage to drag himself to aqua aerobics.—
Marah Eakin,
Vulture,
6 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hick.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hick. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026.
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