bumpkin
bump·kin/ˈbʌmpkɪn/noun
bumpkin is spelled B-U-M-P-K-I-N: 7 letters and 2 syllables (bump·kin). It appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 82,325th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bumpkin means “A clumsy, unsophisticated person; a yokel” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bumpkin is bumpkins.
How many letters and syllables are in bumpkin?
| Letters | 7: B-U-M-P-K-I-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: bump·kin |
| In writing | about once in every 8 million words; the 82,325th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is bumpkin?
Bumpkin appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 82,325th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bumpkin?
- /ˈbʌmpkɪn/
- /ˈbʊmpkɪn/
Bumpkin has 2 syllables, split bump·kin in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bumpkin.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of bumpkin
- bumpkins plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bumpkin mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A clumsy, unsophisticated person; a yokel.
- 2
A short boom or spar used to extend a sail or secure a stay.
- 3
Dance, a series of reels, Scottish.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bumpkin in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense yokel:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | plouc, péquenaud, manant |
| German | Hinterwäldler, Bauerntölpel, Tölpel |
| Spanish | paleto, palurdo, montañero, montuno, cazurro, guajiro |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bumpkin come from?
From Dutch boomken (“shrub, little tree”), equivalent to boom + -kin. Note that the English word boom is etymologically related to the aforementioned in the sense of "large stem", or "big tree". Compare German Baumke, Bäumchen.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).