Yokel Definition

yōkəl
yokels
noun
yokels
A person living in a rural area; rustic; country bumpkin.
Webster's New World
A rustic; a bumpkin.
American Heritage

(pejorative) An unsophisticated person.

Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Yokel

Noun

Singular:
yokel
Plural:
yokels

Origin of Yokel

  • Perhaps from German dialectal Jokel, Jockel bumpkin (from diminutive of the name Jakob) (German equivalent of English James) (Jacob) or from English dialectal yuckle European green woodpecker (Picus viridis) probably a variant of English hickwall (from Middle English hyghwhele) (probably from an imitation of its high-pitched call)

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Perhaps from German dialectal Jokel, Jockel bumpkin (from diminutive of the name Jakob) (German equivalent of English James) (Jacob) or from English dialectal yuckle European green woodpecker (Picus viridis) probably a variant of English hickwall (from Middle English hyghwhele) (probably from an imitation of its high-pitched call)

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • 1812, possibly dialectical German Jokel, diminutive of Jakob; alternatively, from dialectal English yokel (“woodpecker").

    From Wiktionary

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