yokel

noun

ˈyō-kəl How to pronounce yokel (audio)
Definition of yokelnext
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 yokel Lisa lets a dolphin named Snorky escape from Marine World after seeing his trainers taunt him for the amusement of slack-jawed yokels. — Joshua Kurp, Vulture, 26 Oct. 2026 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 Part of his way of taking it yokel — besides bringing in Foo Fighter Rami Jaffee on accordion and Willie Aron blowing harmonica — was to add a previously unheard yodel to the chorus. — Chris Willman, Variety, 27 Oct. 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for yokel
  1. hick
  2. peasant
  3. hayseed
  4. bumpkin
  5. provincial
  6. rube
  7. clown
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
Definition of hick
Noun
  • The serfs and peasants who filled the 1917 Russian Revolution and Mao’s Long March did not understand Marxist dialectics.
    — Stephen Messer, Fortune, 5 Nov. 2026
  • In the shadow on the ground, your back bowed out unflatteringly, like a peasant’s hump.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of peasant
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
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
Noun
  • The district elected a Western Canada Concept separatist in a 1982 provincial by-election.
    — Rob Gillies, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2026
  • 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
Definition of provincial
Noun
  • That’s just the nature of talking about AI these days, when even the most passionate AI champions don’t quite know what the technology might do, and the rest of us rubes are left to try to make sense of it.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Dominique is in the ensemble as is a blond rube named Hunter (Kristine Froseth) who shows up at Elle’s doorstep in mall-wear denim and then upgrades to desperate, cleavage-baring sequins.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2026
Definition of rube
Noun
  • Two clowns in serious legal trouble colluded to put the entire planet in an economic crisis.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 7 Nov. 2026
  • The procession will also welcome 52 floats, 31 clown crews, nine specialty units (such as trycaloons, or balloons ridden on tricycles), seven marching bands, and five balloonicles (that’s a balloon-vehicle hybrid).
    — Rachel Chang, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of clown

Browse Nearby Words

yoked
yokel
yokels
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Cite this Entry

“Yokel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/yokel. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of wabi-sabi

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

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

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All