as in hick
an awkward or simple person especially from a small town or the country
a lame comedy about the misadventures of yokels in the big city
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Recent Examples of yokel
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
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
Much of the show's cast will be forever remembered as TV's favorite millionaire yokels, but The Beverly Hillbillies certainly didn't mark the end of their careers.
—John Russell, People.com, 11 May 2025
Ben’s refusal to stand down for a middle-aged white man seeking to wrest power from him was radical, as was the film’s ending, in which the hero was shot by yokels failing to distinguish him from the zombies previously described as animals.
—Richard Newby, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Oct. 2024
John Elway would sooner crowd surf with the yokels in Oakland’s Black Hole than tank a season.
—Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 1 Sep. 2024
Trujillo reimagines the sentimental yokels of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, as fervent, travel-ready fundamentalists.
—oregonlive, 5 Sep. 2023
Brian Boone, Vulture, 18 June 2025
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
Much of the show's cast will be forever remembered as TV's favorite millionaire yokels, but The Beverly Hillbillies certainly didn't mark the end of their careers.
—John Russell, People.com, 11 May 2025
Ben’s refusal to stand down for a middle-aged white man seeking to wrest power from him was radical, as was the film’s ending, in which the hero was shot by yokels failing to distinguish him from the zombies previously described as animals.
—Richard Newby, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Oct. 2024
John Elway would sooner crowd surf with the yokels in Oakland’s Black Hole than tank a season.
—Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 1 Sep. 2024
Trujillo reimagines the sentimental yokels of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, as fervent, travel-ready fundamentalists.
—oregonlive, 5 Sep. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for yokel
Noun
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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
-
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
Noun
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Her character is a peasant who, around the midway mark, gives an inspiring speech to her granddaughter, Afra (Wardi Eilabuni).—
Ritesh Mehta,
IndieWire,
5 Sep. 2025
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Slaves, serfs, peasants, and wage workers mostly understood that what was being struck was a hammer blow on their behalf.—
Jack Sheehan
September 4,
Literary Hub,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
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
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The movie depicts Nashville as a town full of hayseeds who are bamboozled by the fast-talking Reynolds.—
Keith Sharon,
Nashville Tennessean,
2 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Ma and Pa Kent are the most stereotypical country bumpkins imaginable.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
9 July 2025
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Going to the Ron Burgundy–Ricky Bobby idiot well one time too many, Ferrell plays Cam Brady, a lazy, cynical longtime congressman running against a local bumpkin (Galifianakis).—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
4 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
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
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The same year, he was appointed as a provincial for the order.—
Caitlin McFall,
FOXNews.com,
21 Apr. 2025
Noun
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As for partisan rubes like Senator Van Hollen, Maryland can do better.—
Chris Roemer,
Baltimore Sun,
26 June 2025
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There was no quintessential American, so Twain imagined him: a wily rube, cynical toward the same refinements of Europe that inspired awe in him.—
Caity Weaver,
The Atlantic,
5 June 2025
Noun
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Nothing sends chills down your spine like evil clowns, undead monsters and a filthy car.—
Charlie Vargas,
Oc Register,
12 Sep. 2025
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Someone should be impeaching this Laporta clown.—
Pol Ballus,
New York Times,
10 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Yokel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/yokel. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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