as in peasant
an awkward or simple person especially from a small town or the country
a rustic who was awed by the prices that city dwellers had to pay
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
variants
also rustical
1
as in uncomfortable
lacking social grace and assurance
rustic yokels whose first impulse was to smirk gawkily at anyone not of their own kind
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in rural
of, relating to, associated with, or typical of open areas with few buildings or people
a rustic area that has a refreshing lack of billboards and shopping malls
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rustic
Rick Jordan, Travel + Leisure, 8 Feb. 2026
Neither modish nor cookie-cutter rustic in aesthetic, the hotel, tucked away off the main street in the village of Malfa, feels like a genuine home, where old framed maps, ceramics, pots, and paintings, along with other antiques, have been collected over the years.
—Rosalyn Wikeley, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Jan. 2026
Helena Madden, Martha Stewart, 15 May 2026
The rebrand brought with it four new culinary concepts including Revel Lounge, a rustic bar and restaurant focusing on cuisine sourced from across Colorado.
—Brad Japhe, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for rustic
Noun
It is centred around a striking building topped with turf, a nod to Iceland’s traditional architecture, with aqueduct-like arches and an angular timber roof inside—a little Hobbit-like, a little sci-fi rustic.
—Rick Jordan, Travel + Leisure, 8 Feb. 2026
Neither modish nor cookie-cutter rustic in aesthetic, the hotel, tucked away off the main street in the village of Malfa, feels like a genuine home, where old framed maps, ceramics, pots, and paintings, along with other antiques, have been collected over the years.
—Rosalyn Wikeley, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Jan. 2026
Adjective
Fortunately, the beloved il Buco restaurants have made their rustic, Mediterranean-chic look available to admirers for years via il Buco Vita, a line of beautiful tableware and décor.
—Helena Madden, Martha Stewart, 15 May 2026
The rebrand brought with it four new culinary concepts including Revel Lounge, a rustic bar and restaurant focusing on cuisine sourced from across Colorado.
—Brad Japhe, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for rustic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rustic
Noun
-
Those are remarkable figures for a language once dismissed as a peasant tongue, pushed to Ireland’s western edge and to within an inch of its life.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
4 May 2026
-
In the dying days of the Russian Empire, highborn ladies would willingly cut the dirty fingernails of the peasant Grigori Rasputin and then sew the clippings onto their dresses like sacred talismans.—
Gerard DeGroot,
Air Mail,
25 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Say goodbye to your uncomfortable bras and join the more than 200 Amazon shoppers who have snapped up this Vrcomfy Wireless Bra in the past month.—
Maggie Horton,
PEOPLE,
11 May 2026
-
The number is uncomfortable on purpose Strip away the brand.—
Gabriel Alin Zainescu,
Forbes.com,
10 May 2026
Adjective
-
Soon afterward, with minimal warning, my mother moved to a small white farmhouse on a lonely hillside in rural New Hampshire.—
Nicholas Dawidoff,
New Yorker,
10 May 2026
-
In rural areas, however, their reputation is radioactive due to the brutal actions of government troops and allied militias.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
10 May 2026
Noun
-
Marlowe, the son of a poor Canterbury cobbler, and Shakespeare, the son of a Stratford glover and alderman, were both unlikely artistic geniuses, provincials in a nation in which social class was rigidly fixed.—
Heller McAlpin,
Christian Science Monitor,
10 Sep. 2025
-
Sanders is a Catholic priest and former Augustinian provincial in California and lives in the Augustinian community in North Park.—
Gary Sanders,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
14 May 2025
Adjective
-
There, migrant labor, economic need and repressed desire collide, especially through his uneasy bond with Arvydas, a Czech co-worker whose open homophobia masks darker tensions.—
Callum McLennan,
Variety,
11 May 2026
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The landfill theory made some birding enthusiasts uneasy and prompted some authorities, locals and others to defend Ushuaia, a city of nearly 85,000 that draws tourists to its Antarctic cruise ships and abundant, watchworthy bird population.—
Marlene Lenthang,
NBC news,
10 May 2026
Noun
-
When Johnson was vice president and visiting Europe, there were reports filed by these British ambassadors in several countries that basically made fun of him as a hick.—
Wendy Naugle,
USA Today,
14 Apr. 2026
-
So a bunch of hicks from Topeka were left up to our own devices of going down to Robert Hall and finding something that might be kind of cool.—
Devon Ivie,
Vulture,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
But less fine is Kreutzer’s decision to make Kühn’s own domestic challenges a parallel story, set up in clumsy counterpoint with Lucy’s.—
Stephanie Bunbury,
Deadline,
15 May 2026
-
Salmonflies, however, are bigger and clumsier than smaller insects like mayflies.—
Dac Collins,
Outdoor Life,
14 May 2026
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
Cite this Entry
“Rustic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rustic. Accessed 17 May. 2026.
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