adjective
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of or characteristic of the countryside or country life; rustic
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of or relating to shepherds; pastoral
noun
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(sometimes plural) a pastoral poem, often in the form of a dialogue
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a rustic; farmer or shepherd
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of bucolic
1525–35; < Latin būcolicus < Greek boukolikós rustic, equivalent to boukól ( os ) herdsman ( bou-, stem of boûs ox + -kolos keeper + -ikos -ic
Explanation
As an adjective, bucolic refers to an ideal country life that many yearn for. If your parents wanted to raise you in a bucolic environment, you may find yourself living 45 minutes away from the nearest movie theater or person your age. Not ideal. You wouldn’t know it to look at it, but bucolic is a distant relation of cow, and all bucolic’s meanings can be connected to the bovine creature. Bucolic ultimately comes from the Greek boukolos, cowherd or herdsman. A bucolic could be a short poem about pastoral (cow) life or a country person, who is stereotyped as a cowherd. Used as an adjective, bucolic can refer to an idealized rural life (think life with cows) or to herdsmen (more cows). And that’s no bull.
Vocabulary lists containing bucolic
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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.
Jo is thinking warm, bucolic thoughts as she observes the ragtag procession.
From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026
I grew up in Pittsfield, Mass., a bucolic, General Electric factory city.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026
That bucolic scene is filmed in a slow pivot around the park, cinematographer Nick Morris getting a chuckle from how the image shifts from Georges Seurat to “Hellraiser.”
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 2026
Against bucolic and urban images of industry and humanity, Reagan begins in his unmistakable voice, “When someone says ‘Let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports,’ it looks like they’re doing the patriotic thing.”
From Salon • Oct. 30, 2025
At home, he and Oppenheimer would take long walks around Berkeley and into the bucolic woods of Northern California.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
