Meanings
nounyokel (plural yokels)
plural yokels
- derogatoryslangA person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive.
They love the scenery near their summer home, but have no desire to mix with the local yokels.
5 more examples
“[…] my opinion at once is […] that this [robbery] wasn’t done by a yokel―eh, Duff?” “Certainly not,” replied Duff. “And, translating the word yokel, for the benefit of the ladies, I apprehend your meaning to be that this attempt was not made by a countryman?” said Mr. Losberne with a smile.
1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “Involves a Critical Position”, in Oliver Twist; […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 181[…] and yokels looking up at the tinselled dancers and poor old rouged tumblers, while the light-fingered folk are operating upon their pockets behind.
1848 June 28, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Before the Curtain”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], →OCLC, page viiHe eyed the story-teller with unspeakable wonder. His mouth was agape in yokel fashion.
1895 October, Stephen Crane, chapter VIII, in The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 88"God damn and blast all you hamfisted yokels!" he was saying. "And you, sir, down there. Take that grin off your face and be more careful, or I'll have you clapped under hatches to sail with us today. Easy, there, easy! Christ, rum at seven guineas an anker isn't meant to be dropped like pig iron!"
1938 April, C[ecil] S[cott] Forester [pseudonym; Cecil Louis Troughton Smith], chapter V, in A Ship of the Line, Greenwich edition, London: Michael Joseph, published 1951 (February 1962 printing), →OCLC, pages 40–41I went to New York and bought myself a secondhand stretch limousine twenty-eight feet long, calculated to reduce the most blasé country-club sophisticates to bug-eyed yokels.
1985, Peter De Vries, chapter 6, in The Prick of Noon, Penguin, page 119Synonyms: boor, bumpkin, country bumpkin, joskin, hayseed, hillbilly, hick, peasant
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna person who is not very intelligent or interested in culture
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- GermanJokel
- Englishyokel
First use appears c. 1812, possibly from dialectal German Jokel, diminutive of Jakob, cf. Yankee (“little John”) and jacquerie (“a peasant uprising”). Alternatively, from dialectal English yokel, yuckle (“a European green woodpecker”), itself probably a variant of hickwall.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic جِلْف
- جِلْف (jilf)a person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Bulgarian селяк, селячка
- селяк (seljak)a person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- селячка (seljačka)a person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- селяндур (seljandur)a person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Catalan taujà, pagerol
- taujàa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- pagerola person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Chinese Mandarin 土包子, 鄉下人 /乡下人
- 土包子 (tǔbāozi)a person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- 鄉下人 /乡下人 (xiāngxiàrén)a person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- 鄉巴佬 /乡巴佬 (xiāngbalǎo)a person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Czech (venkovský) balík, křupan
- (venkovský) balíka person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- křupana person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- burana person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Danish bonderøv, bondeknold
- bonderøva person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- bondeknolda person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Dutch boerenlul, boertje van buut'n
- boerenlula person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- boertje van buut'na person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Esperanto kamparano, kamparanaĉo
- kamparanoa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- kamparanaĉoa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Finnish maalaisjuntti, juntti
- maalaisjunttia person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- junttia person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
French manant, plouc
- mananta person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- plouca person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
German Bauerntölpel, Hinterwäldler
- Bauerntölpela person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- Hinterwäldlera person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- Tölpela person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- Hanswursta person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- Simpela person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- Einfaltspinsela person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- Naivlinga person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Hindi गवार, देहाती
- गवार (gavār)a person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- देहाती (dehātī)a person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Hungarian paraszt, suttyó
- paraszta person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- suttyóa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- tahóa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- prosztóa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- bugrisa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- mucsaia person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Italian villico, campagnolo
- villicoa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- campagnoloa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- bifolcoa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- zappaterraa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- rozzoa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- beceroa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- cafonea person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- buzzurroa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- villanoa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- zoticonea person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Japanese 田舎者, いなかっぺ
- 田舎者 (inakamono)a person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- いなかっぺa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Latin petrō
- petrōa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Latvian pāķis, lauķis
- pāķisa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- lauķisa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Māori panekāka
- panekākaa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Persian دهاتی
- دهاتی (dehâti)a person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Polish gbur, kindybał
- gbura person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- kindybała person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- ordynusa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- prostaka person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- prostaczkaa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Portuguese caipira, saloio
- caipiraa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- saloioa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- campónioa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- labregoa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Punjabi ਪੇਂਡੂ, پینْڈُو
- ਪੇਂਡੂ (peṇḍū)a person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- پینْڈُو (penḍū)a person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Romanian țăran, mojic
- țărana person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- mojica person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- bădărana person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Russian дереве́нщина
- дереве́нщина (derevénščina)a person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Spanish palurdo, paleto
- palurdoa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- paletoa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- chúntaroa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- gueishpoa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Turkish maganda
- magandaa person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Yiddish קליינשטעטלדיקער, קליינשטעטלדיקע
- קליינשטעטלדיקער (kleynshtetldiker)a person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- קליינשטעטלדיקע (kleynshtetldike)a person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- פּויער (poyer)a person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- פּויערטע (poyerte)a person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
- גלאָמפּ (glomp)a person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with yokel
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
yokel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yokel
MLA
“yokel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yokel. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “yokel,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yokel.
Source: yokel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.