HICK Synonyms: 107 Similar and Opposite Words

hick 1 of 2

noun

ˈhik

Definition of hick

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

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

hick

2 of 2

adjective

as in hickish

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

as in unsophisticated

Related Words

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

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

But none have had the kind of folksy humor and candor that can draw hordes of investors each year, like those attending Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting.

— Josh Funk, Fortune, 19 Sep. 2026
But none have had the kind of folksy humor and candor that can draw hordes of investors each year, like those attending Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting.

— ABC News, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2026

Definition of folksy

Adjective

Five months later, the Taliban militia, which had no airpower and unsophisticated weaponry, seized control of Kabul in just ten days.

— Robin Wright, New Yorker, 11 Sep. 2026
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

Definition of unsophisticated

Noun

Kerry learned this the hard way after allowing Jordan to question what appeared to be a local yokel over the mysterious shooting at a Rushville high school football game.

— Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 16 Aug. 2026
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

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

My perspective and approach has been to try and be as measured as possible and not be as reactionary.

— Katie Abel, Footwear News, 9 Sep. 2026
Far from merely raising a reactionary fist in the air at the new science, Swift identified an attitude that is still around today — and one that has created many of the greatest challenges now facing educators.

— Dónal Gill, The Dial, 8 Sep. 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

Browse Nearby Words

hic jacets

hick

hickey

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Hick.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hick. Accessed 23 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of hick

noun

adjective

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

compendious

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

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

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

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?

Popular

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes