as in hicks
an awkward or simple person especially from a small town or the country
rural voters were tired of being treated as rubes by state officials, who showed interest in them only at election time
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Recent Examples of rubes
Harry would be right to be bitter; Sally’s optimism was for rubes.
—
Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 17 Dec. 2025
Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 17 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rubes
Noun
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Some of us were born black, born from bad classes—the offspring of capitalists, rich peasants, counterrevolutionaries.—
Danielle Parker,
CBS News,
20 Jan. 2026
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German troops and local peasants hauling military vehicles across a river bank near Moscow, 1941.—
Peter Suciu,
Forbes.com,
16 Jan. 2026
Noun
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There are other quirky attractions here, too, like the Clown Motel, where horror enthusiasts can sleep among a collection of more than 6,500 clowns.—
Cailey Rizzo,
Travel + Leisure,
21 Jan. 2026
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After his parents divorced, his mother took 5-year-old Salazar with her, moving from place to place around South America, and performing as clowns to make money.—
Lisa Deaderick,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
17 Jan. 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
Cite this Entry
“Rubes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rubes. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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