hick

American  

[hik] / hɪk /

noun

• hicks
  plural

1. an unsophisticated, boorish, and provincial person; rube.

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adjective

1. pertaining to or characteristic of hicks.

   hick ideas.

2. located in a rural or culturally unsophisticated area.

   a hick town.

hick British  

/ hɪk /

noun

1. informal

   1. a country person; bumpkin

   2. ( as modifier )

      hick ideas

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• hicks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hick

1555–65; after Hick, familiar form of Richard

Explanation

A hick is an unsophisticated, rural person. Your accent and fondness for wearing overalls might make some people think you're a hick. The word hick is both informal and derogatory — in other words, if you call your cousin who raises dairy goats and chickens a hick, she'll probably be offended. Hick is an adjective too: "I've got to get out of this hick town!" Hick was originally a nickname — like "Rick" — for "Richard," in the 14th century. Along the way, it meant both "hosteler" and "awkward provincial person."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hick hicks

You can be a Harvard hick, a Palm Beach hick.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

But I was a hick from the north of England.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2024

They’d all gone to art schools — Cooper Union and Cranbrook and Cleveland Institute of Art and Pratt and Parsons — and thought I was this hick.

From New York Times ● Jul. 6, 2022

Bird was “the hick from French Lick,” the aw-shucks guy from a small town in Indiana who often said he couldn’t run or jump.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 16, 2022

We could do without any more news coverage of the “big-time reporter comes to hick town” genre.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Hence the term that they applied to themselves, sophisticated hicks.

From New York Times ● Oct. 6, 2021

Calling people gullible or hicks doesn’t convert anyone.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 1, 2020

Like most such stories, “Bless This Mess” privileges the country over the town, prizes the hicks above the slickers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2019

But didn’t you also see me googling “braxton hicks vs. preterm labor” and “baby not moving”? Did you not see my three days of social-media silence, uncommon for a high-frequency user like me?

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 18, 2018

We are playing West Charleston High School and they think they’re coming down here to trounce the hicks.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy