rube

¹

[roob]

noun

Informal.

1. an unsophisticated person from a rural area; hick.

Rube

²

[roob]

noun

1. a male given name, form of Reuben.

rube

/ ruːb /

noun

1. slang,  an unsophisticated countryman

Word History and Origins

Origin of rube¹

1895–1900; generic use of Rube; compare earlier use of Reuben in same sense

Word History and Origins

Origin of rube¹

C20: probably from the name Reuben

Example Sentences

Patriotism—even in 1943—strikes Hart as strictly for the rubes; Rodgers counters that “Oklahoma!” is oblique reassurance of “what we’re fighting for.”

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They were just campaign slogans to appeal to the rubes.

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Such voices tend to believe that anyone who would trust Trump’s promises of free money are dumb, dupes, rubes and/or easy marks.

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Speaking from the White House, Trump said that the U.S. had been playing the rube in unbalanced deals with its biggest trading partners.

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Come for the Rube Goldberg machines, leave feeling like a rube.

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Related Words

• bumpkin 
• hick