redneck

or red-neck

[ red-nek ]
See synonyms for redneck on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an uneducated white farm laborer, especially from the South.

  2. a bigot or reactionary, especially from the rural working class.

adjective
  1. Also red-necked . narrow, prejudiced, or reactionary: a redneck attitude.

Origin of redneck

1
An Americanism dating back to 1820–30; red1 + neck

usage note For redneck

All the senses of this term are used with disparaging intent, implying negative stereotypical traits such as ignorance and narrow-mindedness.

Other words for redneck

Opposites for redneck

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use redneck in a sentence

  • The stranger, a strongly built man with blue eyes and a red neck, looked from one to the other.

  • "Nothing, I assure you," said the gentleman with the red neck.

  • Pontefract, with his red neck and his short legs, seemed suddenly very near.

    The Halo | Bettina von Hutten
  • Also he owned an ever-thirsting palate, a fat red neck, red-rimmed eyes, and a bald head.

    The Halo | Bettina von Hutten
  • A whiskered head on the end of a long, corrugated red neck protruded from the smokehouse door.

    Seventeen | Booth Tarkington

British Dictionary definitions for redneck

redneck

/ (ˈrɛdˌnɛk) /


nounderogatory
  1. (in the southwestern US) a poor uneducated White farm worker

  2. a person or institution that is extremely reactionary

adjective
  1. reactionary and bigoted: redneck laws

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

Cultural definitions for redneck

redneck

A slang term, usually for a rural white southerner who is politically conservative, racist, and a religious fundamentalist (see fundamentalism). This term is generally considered offensive. It originated in reference to agricultural workers, alluding to how the back of a person's neck will be burned by the sun if he works long hours in the fields.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.