Words / C2

byoo-KOL-ik/bjuːˈkɒlɪk/

Bucolic is literary for pleasant countryside: a bucolic scene, bucolic calm. Rural is the neutral word; rustic can mean simple or crude. Pastoral is the literary cousin. Bucolic is not for industrial farmland in a report — keep it for atmosphere.

Meaning

Of the pleasant countryside (literary).

Examples

• “The film opens with a bucolic scene of fields and lanes.”
• “The postcard sold a bucolic fantasy of the village.”
• “After the city, the bucolic quiet felt unreal.”

Good to know

bucolic scene/calm (literary). Neutral: rural. Cousin: pastoral.

Near in meaning

pastoral

New