Hayseed

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈheɪˌsid/

Definitions

1. A naive or unsophisticated person from a rural area, typically one who lacks worldly experience or refinement
2. A person characterized by a lack of sophistication and typically coming from a rural environment, often viewed as simple or unsophisticated
3. An individual from the countryside often seen as lacking social polish or urbane manners

Etymology: Hayseed is a plain compound: "hay" joined to "seed," so the word literally names the loose chaff and seeds that fall from hay, the kind of thing a farm worker would pick out of their clothes or hair after a day in the barn. The image of a man with straw stuck to him is what made the leap to a person's manners and background. The sense of a rural person as unsophisticated grew from that picture of a farmhand fresh from the fields, a figure that city audiences found easy to mock. Because the joke depends on the contrast between field and town, the word has always carried a faintly teasing tone rather than a plainly insulting one.

Synonyms: rube, bumpkin

Antonyms: sophisticate