English Explanatory Dictionary

yokel

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive.

Pronunciation

/ˈjəʊ.kəl/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-yokel.wav /ˈjoʊ.kəl/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-yokel.wav

Word forms

yokel yokels

Etymology

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.

Synonyms

boor bumpkin country bumpkin joskin hayseed hillbilly hick peasant provincial rube rustic yahoo bogger bogtrotter bucolic bydlo culchie carl churl corncob cornhusker country cousin clodhopper dubbo hob hobnail hog-rubber honyock hunk lob promdi woolly back yokel

Derived words

local yokel wokel yob yokeldom yokelish yokelism yokelry
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