hick
/hik/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adjective:
- Awkwardly simple and provincial: Describes something or someone that is unsophisticated, rustic, or characteristic of rural areas, often with a connotation of being backward or naive.
- Bumpkinly, rustic: Pertaining to the manners, style, or appearance of a country person, typically viewed as unsophisticated by urban standards.
Noun:
- A person who is not very intelligent or interested in culture: A derogatory term for a person from a rural area, perceived as lacking sophistication, worldliness, or cultural awareness.
- A country person; a yokel: A person from the countryside, often used pejoratively to imply simplicity or ignorance.
Usage Examples
Adjective:
- They moved from the city and found the hick lifestyle surprisingly peaceful.
- The diner had a hick charm, with its simple decor and friendly, local patrons.
Noun:
- The city slickers laughed, calling him a hick because he wasn't familiar with the subway.
- He felt like a hick at the art gallery, not understanding any of the modern paintings.
Advanced Usage
- Used as a modifier: The term can be used attributively to describe nouns associated with rural simplicity.
- It was just a hick town with one main street and a single traffic light.
- Derogatory Context: The word is often used pejoratively. Sensitivity is required as it can be offensive.
- Using "hick" to describe someone's background is considered rude and dismissive.
Variants and Related Words
- Hickish (adj.): Resembling or characteristic of a hick.
- His hickish manners stood out at the formal dinner.
- Hickdom (n., informal): The state or condition of being a hick; the realm of hicks.
- He joked about escaping the hickdom of his hometown.
Synonyms
- Adjective: Provincial, rustic, unsophisticated, bumpkinly, backwoods.
- Noun: Yokel, bumpkin, rustic, hillbilly (context-dependent), country cousin.
Antonyms
- Adjective: Sophisticated, cosmopolitan, urbane, metropolitan.
- Noun: Cosmopolitan, sophisticate, city slicker.
Related Idioms and Phrases
- "Hick from the sticks": An emphatic idiom for a person from a very rural, remote area.
- They treated him like a hick from the sticks when he asked for directions.
- "Hick town": A common phrase for a small, unsophisticated rural town.
- She couldn't wait to leave that hick town and see the world.
Adjective
- awkwardly simple and provincial
- bumpkinly country boys
- rustic farmers
- a hick town
- the nightlife of Montmartre awed the unsophisticated tourists
Noun
- a person who is not very intelligent or interested in culture