Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, relating to, or typical of country life or country people. synonym: rural.
  • adjective Lacking the refinement or elegance associated with urban life.
  • adjective Charmingly simple or unsophisticated in a manner considered typical of country living.
  • adjective Made of unfinished or roughly finished wood.
  • adjective Having a rough or textured appearance; rusticated. Used of masonry.
  • noun A rural person.
  • noun A person regarded as unsophisticated, guileless, or coarse from having been raised in the country.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or belonging to the country or to country people; characteristic of rural life; hence, plain; homely; inartificial; countrified: as, rustic fare; rustic garb.
  • Living in the country; rural, as opposed to town-bred; hence, unsophisticated; artless; simple; sometimes in a depreciatory sense, rude; awkward; boorish.
  • Made of rustic work, especially in wood. See rustic work, below.
  • In anc. Latin manuscript, noting letters of one of the two oldest forms, the other being the square.
  • In woodwork, summer-houses, garden furniture, etc., made from rough limbs and roots of trees arranged in fanciful forms.
  • Synonyms and Pastoral, Bucolic, etc. See rural.
  • Countrified.
  • noun One who lives in the country; a countryman; a peasant; in a contemptuous use, a clown or boor.
  • noun Rustic work.
  • noun In ceramics, a ground picked with a sharp point so as to have the surface roughened with hollows having sharp edges, sometimes waved, as if imitating slag.
  • noun In entomology, a noctuid or rustic moth: as, the northern rustic, Agrotis lucernea; the unarmed rustic, A. inermis.
  • Noting a peculiar form or style of lumber with lapping edges, much used in place of clapboards for covering the exteriors of buildings and also used to some extent as a material for the ceilings and interior walls of frame houses. The commonest form consists of a board, usually about six inches in width, which is finished with a beveled edge so constructed as to lap over the lower edge of the board just above. The lower edge is finished with a bevel also, beyond which projects a short tongue, over which the upper bevel of the next lower board is to lap.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to the country; rural.
  • adjective Rude; awkward; rough; unpolished.
  • adjective Coarse; plain; simple.
  • adjective Simple; artless; unadorned; unaffected.
  • adjective (Zoöl.) any moth belonging to Agrotis and allied genera. Their larvæ are called cutworms. See Cutworm.
  • adjective (Arch.), (Arch. & Woodwork) Summer houses, or furniture for summer houses, etc., made of rough limbs of trees fancifully arranged.
  • noun An inhabitant of the country, especially one who is rude, coarse, or dull; a clown.
  • noun Poetic A rural person having a natural simplicity of character or manners; an artless, unaffected person.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective country-styled or pastoral; rural
  • adjective unfinished or roughly finished work
  • adjective crude, rough
  • noun A (sometimes unsophisticated) person from a rural area.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective characteristic of the fields or country
  • adjective characteristic of rural life
  • adjective awkwardly simple and provincial
  • noun an unsophisticated country person

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English rustik, from Old French rustique, from Latin rūsticus, from rūs, country; see reuə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin rūsticus.

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Examples

  • But our ancestors were necessarily limited in their pleasures, and to them Richmond was a God-send, especially to men like Selwyn, or Queensberry, or Walpole, who delighted in social intercourse, and liked to enjoy what they called rustic life with as much comfort as the age provided.

    George Selwyn: His Letters and His Life Helen [Editor] Clergue

  • But our ancestors were necessarily limited in their pleasures, and to them Richmond was a God-send, especially to men like Selwyn, or Queensberry, or Walpole, who delighted in social intercourse, and liked to enjoy what they called rustic life with as much comfort as the age provided.

    George Selwyn His Letters and His Life Ed 1899

  • It was a great annoyance to the British officers and soldiers, to be thus hemmed in by what they termed a rustic rout with calico frocks and fowling-pieces.

    Life of George Washington — Volume 01 Washington Irving 1821

  • We don´t mind if lodging is "rustic" and had a lot of fun staying in rustic cabins run by indigenous folks when we visited Yaxchilán and Bonampak in the Lacandon Forest in Chiapas.

    Drivng from Chiapas to Calakmul and Other Sites 2010

  • We don´t mind if lodging is "rustic" and had a lot of fun staying in rustic cabins run by indigenous folks when we visited Yaxchilán and Bonampak in the Lacandon Forest in Chiapas.

    Drivng from Chiapas to Calakmul and Other Sites 2010

  • We don´t mind if lodging is "rustic" and had a lot of fun staying in rustic cabins run by indigenous folks when we visited Yaxchilán and Bonampak in the Lacandon Forest in Chiapas.

    Drivng from Chiapas to Calakmul and Other Sites 2010

  • Crushing throngs of people laid out on the beach under umbrellas or sat in rustic wooden chairs from porches overlooking the river while children swam and played on red swings, all provided by the Tribune.

    2008 December 04 « Beachwood Historical Alliance 2008

  • Most of the wineries are family-run affairs where tastings are conducted by appointment in rustic rooms by the owner or a family member.

    USATODAY.com - Piedmont region more than just truffles 2006

  • Both towns are known for inexpensive, well-designed furniture in rustic styles.

    Buying Furniture 2003

  • Ill-advised additions had been made, according to the fashion of the times: a den paneled in rustic pine, a long screened porch, some dormers scattered above the horizontal roof line like eyes peering down the drive.

    Excerpt: Blessings by Anna Quindlen 2002

Comments

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  • MWAHAHAHAHA it reminds me of a hillbilly riding along in a truck with a piece of corn and a straw hat :)

    September 26, 2008

  • via L Gilmore: crap pile

    February 27, 2010

  • Both towns are known for inexpensive, well-designed furniture in rustic styles.

    January 21, 2014

  • characteristic of rural life; awkwardly simple and provincial

    The vacation cabin had no electricity and no indoor plumbing, but despite these inconveniences, Nigel adored its rustic charm.

    October 12, 2016