provincial

/prəˈvɪnʃəl/

/prəˈvɪntʃəl/

Other forms: provincials

A provincial person comes from the backwaters. Someone from a small province outside of Provence, France, might seem a little more provincial and less worldly than someone from, say, Paris.

Something or someone provincial belongs to a province, or region outside of the city. Provincial has a straightforward meaning when describing where someone is from, but it has some other shades of meaning too. Something provincial can be quaint and in a pleasing rural or country style, but it also can imply someone less sophisticated, as in someone with provincial, or simple, tastes. Individuals or groups of people who are considered narrow-minded are often labeled provincial, even if they're from the city.

Definitions of provincial

1. adjective

   of or associated with a province
   “provincial government”
2. adjective

   characteristic of the provinces or their people
   “deeply provincial and conformist”

   “in that well-educated company I felt uncomfortably provincial”

   “narrow provincial attitudes”

   synonyms:

   bumpkinly, hick, rustic, unsophisticated

   awkwardly simple and provincial

   corn-fed

   strong and healthy but not sophisticated

   insular, parochial

   narrowly restricted in outlook or scope

   jerkwater, one-horse, pokey, poky

   small and remote and insignificant

   stay-at-home

   not given to travel

   antonyms:

   cosmopolitan

   composed of people from or at home in many parts of the world; especially not provincial in attitudes or interests

   traveled, travelled

   familiar with many parts of the world
3. noun

   a country person
   synonyms: bucolic, peasant

   types:

   cottar, cotter

   a peasant farmer in the Scottish Highlands

   moujik, mujik, muzhik, muzjik

   a Russian peasant (especially prior to 1917)

   type of:

   rustic

   an unsophisticated country person
4. noun

   (Roman Catholic Church) an official in charge of an ecclesiastical province acting under the superior general of a religious order
   “the general of the Jesuits receives monthly reports from the provincials”

   type of:

   functionary, official

   a worker who holds or is invested with an office