Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A person with rude, clumsy manners and little refinement.
- n. A peasant.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A countryman; a peasant; a rustic; a clown; particularly, a Dutch or German peasant.
- n. Hence One who is rude in manners, or illiterate; a clown; a clownish person.
- n. [capitalized] Same as Boer.
Wiktionary
- n. A peasant.
- n. A Boer, white South African of Dutch or Huguenot descent
- n. A yokel, country bumpkin
- n. An uncultured person
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A husbandman; a peasant; a rustic; esp. a clownish or unrefined countryman.
- n. A Dutch, German, or Russian peasant; esp. a Dutch colonist in South Africa, Guiana, etc.: a boer.
- n. A rude ill-bred person; one who is clownish in manners.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a crude uncouth ill-bred person lacking culture or refinement
Etymologies
- Dutch boer, from Middle Dutch gheboer; see bheuə- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“It's a reversal of the premise of "Amadeus," in which the boor is the genius and the court favorite a composer possessing more in the way of political skill than musical gifts.”
The Washington Post: NYC reviews: 'Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,' 'La Bête,' 'A Life in the Theatre'
“Stanley, for example, was often called a boor and a brute when in reality he was merely hiding a fine nature behind the armour necessary to resist native imposition and worse.”
“Though he is a boor, that is to be expected, as his father is an enlisted man.”
“According to this argument based on self-assertive aggressiveness, the boor was the man possessed of a strong personality, while the gentleman was relatively "impersonal.”
“I hear if you watch “Passion of the Christ”, you turn into the kind of boor that says that all sex should be within a context of looking to get married and have babies.”
Matthew Yglesias » Jessica Valenti on Anti-Feminists and So-Called “Hook-up Culture”
“Rather, it's very clear that Will cut the line because it was an inconvenient impediment to his journalistic goal, which was to portray Webb as a "boor" who was rude to the Commander in Chief, and to show that this new upstart is a threat to Washington's alleged code of "civility and clear speaking" (his words).”
“Will calls Webb a "boor" and a "pompous poseur" (two phrases that might have popped into Will's mind while shaving in the mirror that morning) and asserts Webb has "patent disrespect for the presidency".”
George Will Faults Former Navy Secretary for "Making Waves"!
“Rather, it's very clear that Will cut the line because it was an inconvenient impediment to his journalistic goal, which was to portray Webb as a "boor" who was rude to the Commander in Chief, and to show that this new upstart is a threat to Washington's alleged code of "civility and clear speaking" his words.”
“It is only a "boor" who seeks to impose his own hobbies and interests upon a stranger, disregarding entirely the presumable likes and dislikes of the latter.”
Perfect Behavior; a guide for ladies and gentlemen in all social crises
“The "boor" to whom I have already alluded protested against the presence of the "Negro" and made a pretext for leaving without paying his board.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘boor’.
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A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
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hernesheir The parlor, bed-chamber, or inner room. --an old provincial term from Cumberland England; from Grose's 1787 A Provincial Glossary. May 4, 2011