Provincial means connected with the parts of a country away from the capital city.
Jeremy Styles, 34, was the house manager for a provincial theatre for ten years.
...in Rasht, the provincial capital of Gilan province.
2. adjective
If you describe someone or something as provincial, you disapprove of them because you think that they are old-fashioned and boring.
[disapproval]
He decided to revamp the company's provincial image.
The audience was dull and very provincial.
Synonyms: parochial, insular, narrow-minded, unsophisticated More Synonyms of provincial
3. countable noun
A provincial is someone who comes from a part of a country away from the capital city.
Owen died an unknown provincial.
Synonyms: yokel, hick [informal, mainly US, Canadian], rustic, country cousin More Synonyms of provincial
More Synonyms of provincial
provincial in British English
(prəˈvɪnʃəl)
adjective
1.
of or connected with a province
2.
characteristic of or connected with the provinces; local
3.
having attitudes and opinions supposedly common to people living in the provinces; rustic or unsophisticated; limited
4. New Zealand
denoting a football team representing a province, one of the historical administrative areas of New Zealand
noun
5.
a person lacking the sophistications of city life; rustic or narrow-minded individual
6.
a person coming from or resident in a province or the provinces
7.
the head of an ecclesiastical province
8.
the head of a major territorial subdivision of a religious order
Derived forms
provinciality (prəˌvɪnʃɪˈælɪtɪ)
noun
provincially (proˈvincially)
adverb
provincial in American English
(prəˈvɪnʃəl; proʊˈvɪnʃəl)
adjective
1.
of or belonging to a province
2.
having the ways, speech, attitudes, etc. of a certain province
3.
of or like that of rural provinces; countrified; rustic
4.
designating or of a style, esp. of 18th-cent. European furniture, that was characteristic of the provinces and was a simpler and plainer copy of the style characteristic of the capital and cultural centers
see also French Provincial
5.
narrow; limited; unsophisticated
a provincial outlook
noun
6.
a native of a province
7.
a provincial person; esp., a narrow-minded or unsophisticated person
Derived forms
provincially (proˈvincially)
adverb
Word origin
ME prouyncial < MFr < L provincialis
Examples of 'provincial' in a sentence
provincial
He makes me wait as he summons a provincial police officer to accompany us.
Smithsonian Mag (2017)
It is really just a large provincial city with fancy shops and restaurants.
The Sun (2016)
Three other provincial capitals are under threat.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Pakistan's cash transfer programme previously gave all national and provincial assembly members a budget and let them select the beneficiaries.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
This shows some organization; but it was done at the expense of starving traffic to the capitals and large provincial towns.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
His own acting career began in infancy and he spent much of his childhood touring English provincial theatre towns with his parents.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
This was a humdrum Sunday afternoon in a provincial Italian town where the church bells are audible from the stadium.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
In this way Mrs May could oversee not only the renaissance of provincial towns but also an increase in their number.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Why would a fledgeling band choose such an expensive provincial town?
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Yet the figures remain play actors and the atmosphere that of a provincial theatre.
The Times Literary Supplement (2008)
Outside the provincial capital there were similar figures.
Shubert, Adrian A Social History of Modern Spain (1991)
One of the main problems is that payment for acting in provincial theatres is pretty shocking.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
They are now popular enough to be available in all of the major cities and in many provincial towns too.
Wilkinson, Steve M.E. and You - a self-help plan (1988)
The whole point of great artists is to challenge those certainties that it is the whole point of provincial towns to embody.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The situation has been particularly precarious since provincial elections at the end of January.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The Basra provincial council should not let itself remain swept up in a spurious frenzy.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
That struggle is expected to intensify before next year's provincial election.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
At present the provincial council is headed by a Shia governor.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
After a conventional rural schooling, he went on to secondary school in the provincial capital.
Paul Preston DOVES OF WAR: Four Women of Spain (2002)
What about provincial theatres that don't have big budgets or public funding?
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
He faced serious opposition over his land tax and provincial assembly proposals, but he conducted himself gracefully.
The Times Literary Supplement (2011)
British diplomatic sources said the feuds in Basra would not be resolved until provincial council elections were held.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
He is one of the most powerful people in the country despite being only a member of the Kandahar provincial council.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
If the government was going to spend this money on the theatre, it would be much better off giving grants to provincial repertory theatres.
Simon Ball THE GUARDSMEN (2004)
The run has been extended in London after a sell-out tour of eight provincial theatres.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
But how did such a strong man find himself in this provincial city, four hours west by train from Moscow?
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Once provincial elections are of the way attention will begin to focus on the general election due in December or January.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
For much of the war, the city had somehow managed a to retain something of the air of a French provincial town.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Villages and towns housed a decreasing percentage of the population while cities - provincial capitals and especially the major economic and administrative centers - grew.
Shubert, Adrian A Social History of Modern Spain (1991)
In other languages
provincial
British English: provincial ADJECTIVE
Provincial means connected with the parts of a country away from the capital city.
...the provincial police.
American English: provincial
Brazilian Portuguese: provinciano
Chinese: 省的
European Spanish: provincial
French: provincial
German: Provinz-
Italian: provinciale
Japanese: 地方の
Korean: 지방의
European Portuguese: provinciano
Latin American Spanish: provincial
All related terms of 'provincial'
provincial city
A city is a large town.
French Provincial
a style of furniture , architecture , etc. of or based on that of the French provinces , esp. in the mid-18th century, based in turn on Parisian style
Italian provincial
designating or of a style of rural , Italian furniture of the 18th and 19th cent ., with straight lines and simple decoration , usually of fruitwood or mahogany
Provincial Council
(formerly) a council administering any of the New Zealand provinces
provincial police
(in Canada) the police force of a province, esp Ontario or Quebec
Chinese translation of 'provincial'
provincial
(prəˈvɪnʃəl)
adj
[town, newspaper etc]省的 (shěng de)
(= unsophisticated) 偏狭(狹)的 (piānxiá de)
1 (adjective)
Definition
of a province
The local and provincial elections take place in June.
Synonyms
regional
concern about regional security
state
local
I was going to pop up to the local library.
county
district
territorial
parochial
2 (adjective)
My accent gave away my provincial roots.
Synonyms
rural
the old rural way of life
country
I want to live a simple country life.
local
home-grown
rustic
the rustic charms of a country lifestyle
homespun
The book is simple, homespun philosophy.
hick (informal, mainly US, Canadian)
backwoods
Opposites
urban
3 (adjective)
Definition
unsophisticated or narrow-minded
The audience was dull and very provincial.
Synonyms
parochial
the stuffy and parochial atmosphere of a small village
insular
The old image of the insular Brit is slowly starting to change.
narrow-minded
He's just a narrow-minded bigot.
unsophisticated
limited
narrow
a narrow and outdated view of family life
small-town mainly US)
uninformed
inward-looking
small-minded
parish-pump
upcountry
Opposites
sophisticated
,
refined
,
cosmopolitan
,
fashionable
,
urbane
(noun)
Definition
a person from a province or the provinces
French provincials looking for work in Paris
Synonyms
yokel
a local yokel
hick (informal, mainly US, Canadian)
He is an obnoxious hick.
rustic
rustics in from the country
country cousin
hayseed (US, Canadian, informal)
Additional synonyms
in the sense of country
I want to live a simple country life.
Synonyms
rural,
pastoral,
rustic,
agrarian,
bucolic,
Arcadian,
georgic (literary),
agrestic
in the sense of hick
Definition
an unsophisticated country person
He is an obnoxious hick.
Synonyms
yokel,
peasant (informal),
rustic,
redneck,
bumpkin,
country bumpkin,
hayseed (US, Canadian, informal)
in the sense of homespun
Definition
(of philosophies or opinions) plain and unsophisticated
The book is simple, homespun philosophy.
Synonyms
unsophisticated,
homely,
plain,
rough,
rude,
coarse,
home-made,
rustic,
artless,
inelegant,
unpolished
Synonyms of 'provincial'
provincial
Explore 'provincial' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of insular
Definition
not open to change or new ideas
The old image of the insular Brit is slowly starting to change.