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SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS

pastoral

adjective

Relating to an idealized rural or shepherding life.

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Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.

Idealized rural life

Closest synonyms

bucolicrusticruralArcadianidyllic

Related words and expressions

country-likeshepherdingof the countryside

These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.

Usage distinction

Pastoral often idealizes rural life; rural simply locates something in the countryside.

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CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT

See pastoral in use

The poem's pastoral setting contrasted with the narrator's crowded city.
Dictionary practice example.
A pastoral backdrop placed a shepherd beside an improbably peaceful flock, presenting country life as almost free of trouble.
From Building a Country Setting.

Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.

Synonym reference scope and sources

The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.

How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license

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