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Dec 26, 2013
This week's theme
Words to describe people

This week's words
lickspittle
tosspot
milksop
hayseed
gadabout

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

hayseed

PRONUNCIATION:
(HAY-seed)

MEANING:
noun: An unsophisticated person who comes from a rural area.

ETYMOLOGY:
Alluding to a person with straw in his clothes or smelling of hayseed and regarded as a country bumpkin. Earliest documented use: 1577.

USAGE:
"A hayseed with a Midwestern twang, Carnegie arrived in New York in his 20s with the usual mix of big dreams and shallow pockets."
How to Succeed; Dale Carnegie; The Economist (London, UK); Nov 2, 2013.

See more usage examples of hayseed in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Don't be yourself. Be someone a little nicer. -Mignon McLaughlin, journalist and author (1913-1983)

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