Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An awkward, unsophisticated person; a yokel.
- n. A short spar projecting from the deck of a ship, used to extend a sail or secure a block or stay.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Same as bumkin.
- n. An awkward, clumsy rustic; a clown or country lout.
Wiktionary
- n. a clumsy, unsophisticated person; a yokel
- n. a short boom or spar used to extend a sail or secure a stay
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. An awkward, heavy country fellow; a clown; a country lout.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a person who is not very intelligent or interested in culture
Etymologies
- Perhaps from Flemish boomken, shrub, diminutive of boom, tree; see bheuə- in Indo-European roots or from Middle Dutch bommekijn, diminutive of bomme, barrel.Probably from Dutch boomken, diminutive of boom, tree; see boom2.
Examples
“This bumpkin is as dumb as Palin, M. Sanford, Limbaugh el al”
“Dr. Johnson, however, strangely enough deduces the word bumpkin from bump; but what if it should prove to be a corruption of bumbard, or bombard: in low Latin, bombardus, a great gun, and from thence applied to a large flagon, or full glass.”
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 14, No. 387, August 28, 1829
“If being a bumpkin were his only fault, one could excuse his ignorance.”
Think Progress » Conservative prof. chides Bush’s management style.
“Hence a bumping lass is a large girl of her age, and a bumpkin is a large-limbed, uncivilized rustic; the idea of grossness of size entering into the idea of a country bumpkin, as well as that of unpolished rudeness.”
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 14, No. 387, August 28, 1829
“Hamels, who owns the best changeup this side of, well, Jamie Moyer, is just one of a multitude of weapons that can be deployed by manager Charlie Manuel, who will never again be called a bumpkin after masterminding just the second title in 125 years by the Phillies.”
“LOL! i'm tellin 'ya! .. she meows and her lip (do cats have lips?) gets stuck where her tooth is missing and it makes the "Thank you, thank you very much" look on her! ... i've been calling her "bumpkin" for losing the tooth! .. heeheee!”
“So how did this gangly, awkward and reserved country "bumpkin" entering the stage with one purpose in mind -- saving the nation -- make it happen?”
“Look, you think I'm some kind of bumpkin fool, don't you?”
Lucifer's Hammer
“-- The term "bumpkin" is of Dutch origin, taken from the word”
“Spartan savage," nor a "bumpkin" either, but he knew very well Spartans might expect scant courtesy in Athens, so he said nothing, but he rose from his corner at once and, telling the children to follow, started after the crowd.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘bumpkin’.
-
Unsavory characters
absconder, aretaloger, arriviste, avaunter, bamboozler, bandit, banger, barbarian, barmecide, barrator, beldam, blatherskite and 190 more...
-
Mobying Along
looks like there's not an open Moby Dick list. So now there is.
hypos, Manhattoes, circumambulate, mole, grapnels, bowsprit, asphaltic, mazy, tranced, cataract, ungraspable, judgmatically and 227 more...
-
In provocation
When exasperated, vexed or distressed.
bunkum, pananxiety, hokum, odor of sanctity, facade of strength, bumpkin, sardonic, Philistine, Vandal, dilettante, acerbic, acrid and 11 more...
yarb Citation on booby. Jul 23, 2008