bumpkin

¹ American  

[buhmp-kin] / ˈbʌmp kɪn /

noun

Informal.

1. an awkward, simple, unsophisticated person from a rural area; yokel.

   Synonyms:

   yahoo, hick, rube, hayseed, hillbilly, boor, clod

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bumpkin ² American  

[buhmp-kin] / ˈbʌmp kɪn /

Also boomkin

noun

Nautical.

1. a beam or spar projecting outward from the hull of a vessel, for extending a sail, securing blocks, etc.

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bumpkin ¹ British  

/ ˈbʌmpkɪn /

noun

1. an awkward simple rustic person (esp in the phrase country bumpkin )

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bumpkin ² British  

/ ˈbʌmpkɪn /

noun

1. variant spellings of boomkin

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Other Word Forms

• bumpkinish adjective
• bumpkinly adjective

Etymology

Origin of bumpkin¹

1560–70; < Middle Dutch bommekijn “little barrel,” equivalent to boom beam + -kijn -kin

Origin of bumpkin²

First recorded in 1625–35; from Middle Dutch boomken, equivalent to boom “tree, pole, beam” + -ken, diminutive suffix; boom ², beam, -kin

Example Sentences

“Shanghai was the place to be. It had the best restaurants, the best nightclubs, the coolest people. I felt like such a country bumpkin, but I learned fast.”

From BBC • Aug. 15, 2024

So a school that I had never visited, Harvard, took an enormous risk and accepted me, and I became a token country bumpkin to round out a class of polished overachievers.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 28, 2023

Memphis, a guitar-strumming gentle giant with a country bumpkin way — touchingly incarnated by Sheldon D. Brown — is the main target of Waters’ irrational ire.

From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2023

Anduaga’s soigné style, and vibrant yet plangent timbre, made him an uncommonly sensitive Nemorino — more of a melancholy-prone Werther scribbling poeticisms in a notebook than a sunny country bumpkin mooning over his beloved.

From New York Times • Apr. 18, 2023

“I live in Salinas,” Abra said in such a tone that they knew they were dealing with a superior being who hadn’t time for bumpkin pleasures.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Related Words

• country bumpkin
• rube