Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Rustic?

\Rus"tic\, a. [L. rusticus, fr. rus, ruris, the country: cf. F. rustique. See {Rural}.] 1. Of or pertaining to the country; rural; as, the rustic gods of antiquity. ``Rustic lays.'' --Milton. And many a holy text around she strews, That teach the rustic moralist to die. --Gray. She had a rustic, woodland air. --Wordsworth. 2. Rude; awkward; rough; unpolished; as, rustic manners. ``A rustic muse.'' --Spenser. 3. Coarse; plain; simple; as, a rustic entertainment; rustic dress. 4. Simple; artless; unadorned; unaffected. --Pope. {Rustic moth} (Zo["o]l.), any moth belonging to {Agrotis} and allied genera. Their larv[ae] are called cutworms. See {Cutworm}. {Rustic work}. (a) (Arch.) Cut stone facing which has the joints worked with grooves or channels, the face of each block projecting beyond the joint, so that the joints are very conspicuous. (b) (Arch. & Woodwork) Summer houses, or furniture for summer houses, etc., made of rough limbs of trees fancifully arranged. Syn: Rural; rude; unpolished; inelegant; untaught; awkward; rough; coarse; plain; unadorned; simple; artless; honest. See {Rural}.
\Rus"tic\, n. 1. An inhabitant of the country, especially one who is rude, coarse, or dull; a clown. Hence to your fields, you rustics! hence, away. --Pope. 2. A rural person having a natural simplicity of character or manners; an artless, unaffected person. [Poetic]