Meanings
plural boors
- A peasant.
Not swear it, now I am a gentleman? Let boors and franklins say it, I’ll swear it.
c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], line 1551 more example
For all the rich array and goodly port and countenance of Corinius, he seemed but a very boor beside the Lord Brandoch Daha, and dearly did each hate the other.
1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 30 - A Boer, white South African of Dutch or Huguenot descent.
- A yokel, country bumpkin.
- An uncultured person; a vulgarian.
1 more example
I question if any man ever saw his absent friend more clearly than did Shakespeare his Falstaff, for instance, or Scott his Balfour of Burleigh. But does it, therefore, follow that either of these great writers would, when hungry, have summoned up before him a clearer picture of his approaching dinner, than does the equally hungry or very much hungrier boor? This I doubt; and on the same principle I doubt if the said boor would see his dinner more clearly than a wolf, bear, or tiger would theirs when in quest of it.
1905, Edmund Selous, The Bird Watcher in the Shetlands, p. 107Synonyms: yahoo
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn uncultured person; a vulgarian.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna crude uncouth ill-bred person lacking culture or refinement
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Dutchboer“peasant”
- Englishboor
Borrowed from Dutch boer (“peasant”). Doublet of bauer, Boer, and bower (“peasant, farmer”). For the meaning development from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-, compare with other derived from this term Russian обыва́тель (obyvátelʹ, “the average man/citizen, the man in the street, philistine, resident, inhabitant”), Polish bydło (“cattle, rabble”) (whence Russian бы́дло (býdlo, “rabble, uncultured or stupid people, sheeple”)). Compare typologically with pagan (see more).
More words from Dutch
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian селянин, бур
- селянин (seljanin)a peasant
- бур (bur)a Boer, white South African of Dutch or Huguenot descent
- грубиян (grubijan)an uncultured person
Czech buran, buran
- burana yokel
- buranan uncultured person
- neotesanecan uncultured person
- primitivan uncultured person
Dutch boer
- boera peasant
Esperanto buro
- buroa Boer, white South African of Dutch or Huguenot descent
Finnish jyväjemmari, moukka
- jyväjemmarian uncultured person
- moukkaan uncultured person
French rustre, plouc
- rustrea peasant
- plouca yokel
- beaufan uncultured person
- muflean uncultured person
- pignoufan uncultured person
- ploucan uncultured person
- rustrean uncultured person
German Tölpel, Rüpel
- Tölpela yokel
- Rüpelan uncultured person
Greek αγροίκος, αγροίκος
- αγροίκος (agroíkos)a yokel
- αγροίκος (agroíkos)an uncultured person
Irish abhlóir, amhlán
- abhlóiran uncultured person
- amhlánan uncultured person
Italian cafone, bifolco
- cafonea peasant
- bifolcoa peasant
- beceroa peasant
- buzzurroa peasant
- burinoa peasant
- boeroa Boer, white South African of Dutch or Huguenot descent
- cafonean uncultured person
Latin rupex
- rupexan uncultured person
Persian ارنئوت
- ارنئوت (arna'wt)an uncultured person
Polish Bur, prostak
- Bura Boer, white South African of Dutch or Huguenot descent
- prostakan uncultured person
- chaman uncultured person
Portuguese rústico
- rústicoan uncultured person
Romanian țăran, țăran
- țărana peasant
- țărana yokel
- bădărana yokel
- mojica yokel
- necioplitan uncultured person
- incultan uncultured person
Russian хам, ха́мка
- хам (xam)an uncultured person
- ха́мка (xámka)an uncultured person
- грубия́н (grubiján)an uncultured person
- грубия́нка (grubijánka)an uncultured person
- мужи́к (mužík)an uncultured person
Spanish huaso, paleto
- huasoa peasant
- paletoa yokel
- patánan uncultured person
- catetoan uncultured person
- paletoan uncultured person
Swedish tölp, bonnläpp
- tölpan uncultured person
- bonnläppan uncultured person
Turkish köylü, hödük
- köylüa peasant
- hödükan uncultured person
- kıroan uncultured person
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with boor
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
boor. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/boor
“boor.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/boor. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “boor,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/boor.
Source: boor on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.