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 wooden
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
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 rustic
Juliet Izon, Travel + Leisure, 21 May 2024
The Dresden picture features three satyrs—grinning rustics, horned and horny, who hope to make out with Diana’s accompanying huntswomen.
—Julian Bell, The New York Review of Books, 26 Dec. 2023
Colleen Shalby, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2025
Constructed with indigenous wood and bamboo and imbued with a vibrant flower garden, this rustic hotel provides guests with a glimpse into the traditional architecture and culture of Araucanía, with ten colorful rooms to choose from across the property.
—Jared Ranahan, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for rustic 
Noun
The Swag, Waynesville, North Carolina The decor here is pitch-perfect rustic: cozy without being twee.
—Juliet Izon, Travel + Leisure, 21 May 2024
The Dresden picture features three satyrs—grinning rustics, horned and horny, who hope to make out with Diana’s accompanying huntswomen.
—Julian Bell, The New York Review of Books, 26 Dec. 2023
Adjective
The rustic country club, known for its annual fireworks show, was decimated after more than 100 years.
—Colleen Shalby, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2025
Constructed with indigenous wood and bamboo and imbued with a vibrant flower garden, this rustic hotel provides guests with a glimpse into the traditional architecture and culture of Araucanía, with ten colorful rooms to choose from across the property.
—Jared Ranahan, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for rustic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rustic
Noun
-
The vast majority were men—rural peasants from Guangdong Province, situated on the southeast coast of China, near Hong Kong.—
Jane Hu,
The New Yorker,
23 Jan. 2025
-
The peewee population interacted with each other in various settings and included bocce bowlers, bare-bottomed peasants, baguette bakers, blind men, the mustachioed mayor, female fishmongers, dunce hat-wearing schoolboys, snail saleswomen, and gobs more characters.—
gqlshare,
Orange County Register,
15 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Meanwhile, the wooden bleachers inside the antiquated stadium were covered by 84,059 seat cushions with an Apple logo, a marketing decision that Steve Jobs personally approved when approached by an NFL executive.—
Mark Purdy,
The Mercury News,
24 Jan. 2025
-
Before fire hydrants became common, firefighters often had to dig into the ground to reach wooden water mains to get water into their hoses.—
Mitch Smith,
New York Times,
24 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Opponents, including several GOP lawmakers representing rural areas, had argued that the program would negatively impact their communities by taking money away from public school systems.—
Daniel R. Depetris,
Newsweek,
1 Feb. 2025
-
Raised in rural Tennessee, Roberta was stunned by the brutal reality of inner-city life.—
Richard J. Gonzales,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
1 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
This removed one of the last obstacles preventing poor provincials from governing the empire.—
Jeffrey E. Schulman / Made by History,
TIME,
20 Dec. 2024
-
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
Adjective
-
Amazon’s best-selling soup bowls are made with triple-layered glass that even the clumsiest folks may find hard to break.—
Ashley Zlatopolsky,
Southern Living,
29 Jan. 2025
-
Okay too many clumsy Star Wars references there, but one thing the report also correctly notes is that this would be a rare development where Star Wars recruits a top A-list actor to star in a film.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes,
22 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
In first grade, when a teacher called him a hick, Ciotti threw an inkwell at her.—
D. T. Max,
The New Yorker,
23 Sep. 2024
-
In the special, taped at Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV, Kober brings audiences together with stories about dealing with hometown hicks, unforgiving fruit flies and California candy cartels.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
25 June 2024
Noun
-
Carter, perhaps the most decent man to ever occupy the Oval Office, was long written off as a country bumpkin, one who perhaps unsurprisingly left office as a one-term anomaly.—
Philip Elliott,
TIME,
9 Jan. 2025
-
Emily in Paris On Location: Hotel Plaza Athénée Paris Rediscover Paris as Chicago bumpkin Emily (played by Lily Collins) moves there for a job and takes you to places like Galeries Lafayette, Galerie-Musee Baccarat and Hotel Plaza Athénée Paris.—
Forbes Travel Guide,
Forbes,
14 Sep. 2024
Noun
-
Some of his friends also collected drawings of clowns on jailhouse envelopes sent by their dads.—
Frank Rojas,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Jan. 2025
-
The buzziest piece unveiled for last year’s show consisted of two large inflatable clown heads squished between two buildings.—
Sarah Kuta,
Smithsonian Magazine,
13 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near rustic
Cite this Entry
“Rustic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rustic. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share