provincial

American  

[pruh-vin-shuhl] / prəˈvɪn ʃəl /

adjective

1. belonging or peculiar to some particular province; local.

   the provincial newspaper.

2. of or relating to the provinces.

   provincial customs; provincial dress.

3. having or showing the manners, viewpoints, etc., considered characteristic of unsophisticated inhabitants of a province; rustic; narrow or illiberal; parochial.

   a provincial point of view.

   Synonyms:

   small-town, rural

4. (often initial capital letter) noting or pertaining to the styles of architecture, furniture, etc., found in the provinces, especially when imitating styles currently or formerly in fashion in or around the capital.

   Italian Provincial.

5. History/Historical. of or relating to any of the American provinces of Great Britain.

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noun

1. a person who lives in or comes from the provinces.

2. a person who lacks urban sophistication or broad-mindedness.

3. Ecclesiastical.

   1. the head of an ecclesiastical province.

   2. a member of a religious order presiding over the order in a given district or province.

provincial British  

/ prəˈvɪnʃəl, prəˌvɪnʃɪˈælɪtɪ /

adjective

1. of or connected with a province

2. characteristic of or connected with the provinces; local

3. having attitudes and opinions supposedly common to people living in the provinces; rustic or unsophisticated; limited

4. denoting a football team representing a province, one of the historical administrative areas of New Zealand

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noun

1. a person lacking the sophistications of city life; rustic or narrow-minded individual

2. a person coming from or resident in a province or the provinces

3. the head of an ecclesiastical province

4. the head of a major territorial subdivision of a religious order

Other Word Forms

• interprovincial adjective
• nonprovincial adjective
• nonprovincially adverb
• provinciality noun
• provincially adverb
• quasi-provincial adjective
• quasi-provincially adverb
• semiprovincial adjective
• semiprovincially adverb
• subprovincial adjective
• unprovincial adjective
• unprovincially adverb

Etymology

Origin of provincial

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English (noun and adjective), from Latin prōvinciālis, from prōvinci(a) province + -ālis -al ¹

Example Sentences

While previous opposition leaders mustered crowds of a few dozen if they ventured out of Budapest, Magyar attracts hundreds in villages, and thousands or tens of thousands in provincial urban Fidesz strongholds.

From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026

Despite its federal losses, the party's provincial iterations still enjoy support and are the governing parties in British Columbia and Manitoba.

From BBC • Mar. 29, 2026

Ebel and Diestel were provincial clergymen, scarcely known outside their parishes until, as Mr. Clark says, scandal tightened around them.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

Strikes damaged Tehran’s provincial emergency-services headquarters and hit medical facilities overnight, Iranian state media reported.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 3, 2026

The secretariat was a subcommittee of the branch executive, which reported to the provincial secretary.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Related Words

• local
• rural