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Synonyms

rube

1 American  
[roob] / rub /

noun

Informal.

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

Rube 2 American  
[roob] / rub /

noun

  1. a male given name, form of Reuben.

rube British  
/ ruːb /

noun

  1. slang an unsophisticated countryman

"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

Etymology

Origin of rube

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

If you have been investing since your 20s, you’re hardly a rube where your portfolio is concerned.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 12, 2026

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

From Salon • Feb. 21, 2025

After being treated like a rube by the Big Apple cops and getting stalled on his assignment, he bluffs his way into taking custody of the prisoner.

From Washington Times • Sep. 2, 2021

Meg was also a rube, from Hayward, Calif. We decided to learn the city by “walking the greens.”

From New York Times • Aug. 29, 2021

As I edged up near him, reaching out for a magazine, he cast a cold, disdainful glance at me like the rube that's wise to the dangers of the great city.

From Miss Maitland Private Secretary by Bonner, Geraldine

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.