townie
/ˈtaʊni
/(also towny) informal
noun chiefly derogatory
1A person who lives in a town, especially as distinct from one who lives in the country: the movement of townies to the countryside is a threat...
- The 1960s were full of ballrooms of no chance, lacquered townies and long stepping country men who came looking for their hearts delights under fat Harvest moons.
- In Britain, we have townies and country folk, northerners and southerners, but Spain has 17 distinct regions, each with its own food, festivals and politics.
- I think at the moment the spin merchants and townies are trying to push the countryside that bit too far.
1.1A person who is a local resident in a university town, rather than a student: the beat cut through any differences there might have been between townies and students...
- Professors, students, and townies alike stood around us, sobbing silently at the destruction of the most beloved building on campus.
- Having conveniently forgotten our vows never to return, we showed off our still-attached limbs, teaching the mix of students and townies the art of disco-dancing.
- Would anyone suggest that the citizens of those towns - undergrads and townies alike - should submit all their local decisions to the U.S. Congress?
1.2British A loutish or aggressive young person: a gang of townies cornered one of his friends near the Museum Gardens...
- I didn't take a photo of the townie in a Burberry cap outside the Indian restaurant.
- Daniel - a so-called Goth, who wears black clothes - claims he has been assaulted twice then mugged by "townie" gangs.
- There are more gangs of 'townies' hanging around Blackburn who are damaging surroundings and disturbing the peace, but do I see them being told to move?
adjective (usually towny)
Relating to or characteristic of a town: the bar’s got a great vibe, not too snobby and not too towny all the usual towny stuff is at the bottom of the hill...
- With only a few quiet words, he can solve any and all problems confronting towny fishermen like ourselves.
- I didn't really fancy her (she was nice but a bit towny), so the pressure was off a little.
- When I went to university in Birmingham, I lived in the red-light district which was just so buzzy that I realised immediately I was a towny person!
