as in parochial
not broad or open in views or opinions
some people regard a fear of new things as an unmistakable sign of a provincial attitude
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in peasant
an awkward or simple person especially from a small town or the country
the confidence man figured that fleecing these provincials would be easy
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of provincial
Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2025
Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy, the Philippine Revolution’s unlikely embodiment, had evolved from an unknown provincial mayor to become the leader of eight million Filipinos.
—Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2025
Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 21 Apr. 2025
While early imperial aristocrats saw provincials as subject nations with their own cultures, their working-class replacements considered Romans a single people and expected all to share the same values.
—Jeffrey E. Schulman / Made By History, TIME, 20 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for provincial
Adjective
Momentum is granted only through external validation and modern college football is anything but provincial.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2025
Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy, the Philippine Revolution’s unlikely embodiment, had evolved from an unknown provincial mayor to become the leader of eight million Filipinos.
—Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2025
Noun
Not long after his ordination, he was named the Jesuit provincial for Argentina, which put him in charge of the order’s activities throughout the country.
—Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 21 Apr. 2025
While early imperial aristocrats saw provincials as subject nations with their own cultures, their working-class replacements considered Romans a single people and expected all to share the same values.
—Jeffrey E. Schulman / Made By History, TIME, 20 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for provincial
Recent Examples of Synonyms for provincial
Adjective
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The move likely seeks to rein in parochial infighting between military branches, which compete for congressional funding every year despite Hegseth and the White House officially controlling the process.—
Davis Winkie,
USA Today,
21 Oct. 2025
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The disagreement is colored by Maine’s parochial politics.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
21 Oct. 2025
Noun
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In those intervening 35 years, China had moved 800 million rural peasants — living in extreme poverty on US$2 a day — into city apartments and integrated them into the global economy.—
Peter Leyden,
Big Think,
7 Oct. 2025
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More than two million peasant families were given land.—
Nik Kowsar,
Time,
2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Add the ginger during the last minute of cooking, then transfer the mixture to a small bowl and set aside.—
Elizabeth Fogarty,
Better Homes & Gardens,
28 Oct. 2025
-
Martin knocked on the hunter’s small tent.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Ricky develops romantic feelings for Chad even though Russ plays him as a soft-spoken, possibly dim rural hick who may well be a literal man-child.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
29 Sep. 2025
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Without so many of the fears, complexes, and prejudices hick shaped us in the ‘90s and the ‘00s.—
John Hopewell,
Variety,
20 June 2025
Adjective
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But, God, to be able to play a Pablo Escobar who was just petty and wanted friends, there was something so stupid and so hilarious about that to me.—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Oct. 2025
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These can be petty but hard to avoid today.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
15 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Caddo Lake, Texas Caddo Lake, Texas, has bald cypress trees, Spanish moss, bayous, ponds and rustic cabins.—
Phaedra Trethan,
USA Today,
20 Oct. 2025
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Bridging the rustic and the refined is the ever-changing arroz del día.—
Helen Rosner,
New Yorker,
5 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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United, some of whose senior leadership team, including its chief executive, Scott Kirby, came from American, has done the opposite and is in the process of adding thousands of screens to narrow-body planes both new and old, including Bluetooth technology for wireless headphones.—
Leslie Josephs,
CNBC,
26 Oct. 2025
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The Fitzgerald was designed to carry as much cargo as possible and still fit through the narrow locks at Sault Ste.—
Kevin Duchschere,
Boston Herald,
26 Oct. 2025
Noun
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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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Provincial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/provincial. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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