What does boor mean?
A boor is a person who is conspicuously rude, insensitive, and lacking in good manners — someone whose behaviour shows a disregard for the feelings or comfort of others. The word is always derogatory and tends to be used of deliberate coarseness rather than mere awkwardness: the guest who dominates conversation, mocks the host's food, or ignores social courtesies may fairly be called a boor. It carries a slightly formal, even literary flavour, appearing more often in written commentary than casual speech, where words like 'lout' or 'jerk' might be preferred. Historically, 'boor' meant simply a peasant or farm worker, reflecting its Germanic origins as a term for a farmer or dweller; this sense has largely fallen away, leaving the figurative meaning dominant. Its derivatives — boorish, boorishly, boorishness — describe conduct characteristic of such a person, making the family of words a precise way to condemn uncouth behaviour without resorting to mere insult.
A rude, unmannerly, insensitive person.
"She refused to invite him again after he behaved like a complete boor at her wedding."
Pejorative; slightly formal register.
(Historical) A peasant or farm labourer; a rustic.
"The old chronicle describes the rebels as mere boors from the surrounding villages."
Now dated; found chiefly in older literature.
Regular plural; used for both the modern sense (rude persons) and the historical sense (peasants).
"The dinner party was ruined by a pair of drunken boors."
'Boor' and 'Boer' — the rude lout and the South African farmer — come from the very same word meaning 'peasant' or 'farmer.'
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of boor
The word 'boor' derives from Middle Dutch 'gheboer' or Low German 'būr', meaning a peasant or farmer, related to Old English 'gebūr' ('dweller'), which also gives us 'neighbour' and 'byre'. It entered English in the 16th century with its literal sense of a countryman or rustic. By the early 17th century it had developed the figurative sense of a rude or unrefined person, presumably from the stereotype of the coarse countryman. It shares a Germanic root with Afrikaans/Dutch 'boer' (farmer), the term for South Africa's Dutch-descended settlers, and with German 'Bauer'.
Related word forms
How boor is actually used
Formal-to-neutral register, somewhat literary in tone; always pejorative when applied to people. The historical sense of 'peasant' survives mainly in literary contexts and is now dated.
Easily confused with boor
A bore is a tedious, dull person; a boor is a rude, ill-mannered one — though a person can be both.
A Boer is a member of the Dutch-descended farming population of southern Africa; it shares an etymological root with 'boor' but refers to that specific group, not a rude person.