hayseed

[ hey-seed ]

noun

1. grass seed, especially that shaken out of hay.
2. small bits of the chaff, straw, etc., of hay.
3. an unsophisticated person from a rural area; yokel; hick.

hayseed

/ ˈheɪˌsiːd /

noun

1. seeds or fragments of grass or straw
2. informal.
   a yokel

Word History and Origins

Origin of hayseed¹

First recorded in 1570–80; hay + seed

Example Sentences

I, on the other hand, remain a philistine and a hayseed.

From Washington Post

As a result, the gullible hayseeds of Zaks’s River City just have to sort of fall in line behind him.

From Washington Post

“At a certain point you’re going to ask yourself, ‘Why are you in favor of lower taxes and less regulations so they can call us bigots and hayseeds and deplorables and tell lies about us?’”

From Los Angeles Times

He chose his favored venue of the Aspen Ideas festival, where his transfixing hayseed act has been a perennial marquee attraction.

From The Guardian

The Nonconformist was firmly in the populists’ corner, but 150 miles to the north, Kansas’s leading Republican newspaper derided the reformers as a gang of disgruntled hayseeds.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• boor