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cracker-barrel

American  
[krak-er-bar-uhl] / ˈkræk ərˌbær əl /

adjective

  1. of or suggesting the simple rustic informality and directness thought to be characteristic of life in and around a country store.

    homespun, cracker-barrel philosophy.


cracker-barrel British  

adjective

  1. rural; rustic; homespun

    a cracker-barrel philosopher

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of cracker-barrel

1875–80, adj. use of cracker barrel, around which rural people supposedly converse in old-style country stores

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

No media coverage of a political campaign would be complete without the small-town diner story featuring salt-of-the-earth folks in John Deere hats descanting their cracker-barrel wisdom about the state of the world.

From Salon • May 20, 2023

The doc is a cracker-barrel philosopher and occasional omniscient narrator in the folksy tradition of the Stage Manager of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town.”

From New York Times • Oct. 2, 2018

Jane Kaczmarek brings her wholesome, cracker-barrel charm to the role of the Stage Manager.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 3, 2017

Now Schulberg wanted to denounce the power of television talkers; it’s said that his model was that cracker-barrel sage of radio and early TV, Arthur Godfrey.

From Time • Jul. 3, 2012

Our treasured and nostalgic picture of the village general store, the cracker-barrel store where an informed yeomanry gather to express opinions and formulate the national character, is very rapidly disappearing.

From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck

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