redneck
or red-neck
an uneducated white farm laborer, especially from the South.
a bigot or reactionary, especially from the rural working class.
Also red-necked . narrow, prejudiced, or reactionary: a redneck attitude.
Compare Meanings
Click for a side-by-side comparison of meanings. Use the word comparison feature to learn the differences between similar and commonly confused words.
Origin of redneck
1usage note For redneck
Other words for redneck
Opposites for redneck
Words Nearby redneck
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use redneck in a sentence
This essay, “redneck Lust,” first appeared in the December 1995 issue of GQ and appears here with the author's permission.
Let Us Now Praise Famous Rednecks and Their Unjustly Unsung Kin | Allison Glock | August 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST"A corporation that contributes liberally to our campaign fund," says Senator redneck, with a knowing smile.
In Pastures Green | Peter McArthur
British Dictionary definitions for redneck
/ (ˈrɛdˌnɛk) /
(in the southwestern US) a poor uneducated White farm worker
a person or institution that is extremely reactionary
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
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.
Browse