rustic
/ˈrʌstɪk
/adjective
1Relating to the countryside; rural.Sonntag occasionally populated his landscapes with a lone land hunter, usually near his rustic log cabin....
- Villagers were in their colourful headgear huddled together in a lurching truck on a rustic road.
- The fireplace really suited the rustic cabin setting.
1.1Having a simplicity and charm that is considered typical of the countryside: a party of Morris dancers decked out in rustic costume...
- Now entering its first full season, the Hidden Springs Ranch offers a unique experience that blends rustic charm with spa-caliber amenities.
- Meursault is the most rustic, but is astoundingly complex in nearly all its forms.
- This old town Bristol sugar warehouse is warm and rustic but thankfully convincing too.
Synonyms
rural, country, countryside;
countrified;
pastoral, bucolic;
agricultural, agrarian
literary Arcadian, sylvan
rare georgic, agrestic, exurban
1.2Lacking the sophistication of the city; backward and provincial: you are a rustic halfwit...
- The tug of war is still considered a rustic sport in the cities.
- Instead it reminds us that men such as Dabney were hardly rustic provincials.
- Ever wonder why Bombayites find other cities pedestrian, rustic?
Synonyms
unsophisticated, uncultured, unrefined, uncultivated, simple, plain, homely, artless, unassuming, guileless, naive, ingenuous;
coarse, rough, uncouth, graceless, awkward, cloddish, boorish, lumpen;
North American backwoods, hillbilly, hick
archaic clownish
2Made in a plain and simple fashion, in particular:
Synonyms
plain, simple, homely, unsophisticated, homespun;
peasant;
rough and ready, rough, rude, crude
2.1Made of untrimmed branches or rough timber: a rustic oak bench...
- They build flower boxes, make picture frames from knotholes, and create rustic benches and tables.
- These treatments often accentuate the natural or rustic look of rough sawn lumber and allow the wood grain and surface texture to show through the finish.
- Steven's rustic trellises typically last three or four years before the poles decay, making replacement necessary.
2.2(Of masonry) having a rough-hewn or roughened surface or deeply sunk joints: a rustic bridge...
- A rustic stone wall lined the edge of the overlook.
- Against a rustic stucco wall, water trickles out of scalloped bowls into a colorful blue fountain bedecked with blazing bougainvillea.
- There are no architectural features, with one exception of a roughcast rustic bridge in the left foreground.
2.3Denoting freely formed lettering, especially a relatively informal style of handwritten Roman capital letter: rustic capitals were much easier to form...
- This is a baroque homage to Pablo Ferro that doesn't employ white, condensed, rustic lettering.
- High-grade book scripts were angular square capitals suited to inscriptions and the chisel, more fluid rustic capitals, and rounded uncials suited to the pen.
noun
1often derogatory An unsophisticated country person: they paused to watch the rustics dance and carouse...
- Now he was like some Steven King rustic, issuing cryptic wisdom from the porch to a tourist who just wants directions to the hotel.
- The project's field co-ordinators are no rustics.
- He has remained the affable rustic who enjoyed the company of old friends.
Synonyms
countryman, countrywoman, peasant, son/daughter of the soil, country bumpkin, bumpkin, yokel, country cousin;
French paysan;
Spanish campesino;
Italian contadino, paisano;
Russian muzhik, kulak;
Egyptian fellah;
Indian ryot
Irish informal culchie, bogman
North American informal hillbilly, hayseed, hick, rube
Australian/New Zealand informal bushy
Australian/New Zealand dated backblocker
archaic clown, villein, swain, hind, carl, cottier
rare bucolic
2A small brownish European moth.
- Several genera and species in the family Noctuidae.
Derivatives
rustically
- Alongside are rustically designed huts and an open-air auditorium.
- The town consists of two rustically elegant cabins, a ranch office, paddocks with shelters, a covered round pen, stables, and at the center of it all, Sniffy's Saloon.
- A crossroads pointed the way to innumerable destinations: Honeysuckle Wood, Cowslip Meadow, Dandelion Green, and, less rustically the Suburbs.
rusticity
/ noun ...- But despite their rusticity, the huts are fitted with all things cosmopolitan - a western-style toilet, a 14-channel TV and fridge with a minibar.
- The menu, which has recently been updated, neatly balances old-fashioned rusticity with more up-to-date tinkering.
- With its blend of rusticity and sophistication, the 15 th-century coaching inn has been remodelled and is very much a dapper, food-and-wine-centred affair.
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'rural'): from Latin rusticus, from rus 'the country'.
rural from Late Middle English:
This comes from late Latin ruralis, from rus ‘country’. In early use little difference exists between rural and rustic (Late Middle English), but later usage shows rural in connection with locality and country scenes, with rustic being reserved for the primitive qualities of country life. The use of rustic for ‘unsophisticated; plain and simple’ dates from the beginning of the 17th century