English

Alternative forms

• townee

Noun

townie ‎(plural townies)

1. (Britain, US) A person living in a university area who is not associated with the university.
2. (US) A person born and raised in an area of Massachusetts who is proud of his or her Irish-American community, culture, and heritage.
3. (Britain) A person who has moved from a town or city to a rural area. Especially, one who is perceived not to have adopted rural ways.
4. (Britain) A person familiar with the town (urbanised centre of a city) and with going out on the town; a street-wise person.
5. (Britain, pejorative) A chav.
6. (US) A working-class citizen in a metropolitan area.
7. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand, informal) A person who lives in a city or town, or has an urban outlook.
   • 1999, Richard D. Lewis, When Cultures Collide: Managing Successfully Across Cultures, page 191,

     The modern Aussie is a townie through and through. Australia is the least densely populated country on earth; it is also among the most highly urbanised.

   • 2002, Graeme Davison, Rural Sustainability in Historical Perspective, Chris Cocklin, Jacqui Dibden (editors), Sustainability and Change in Rural Australia, University Of New South Wales Press, page 40,

     In the 1940′s, a social survey of Victorian country towns found a similar gap between the interests and outlooks of farmers and townies, and an underlying fear on the part of the townsfolk.

   • 2005, Marc Brodie, Chapter 9: The Politics of Rural Nostalgia between the Wars, Graeme Davison, Marc Brodie (editors), Struggle Country: The Rural Ideal in Twentieth-Century Australia, page 9.9,

     In that sense, the townies, not the farmers, were the inheritors of a pioneer capacity for hard work.

   • 2008, Jim Sharman, Blood & Tinsel: A Memoir, Melbourne University Publishing, page 18,

     Earlier, there would probably have been a grudge match between two townies, or locals.

Synonyms

• (chav): See synonyms at chav.

Antonyms

• (person who lives in a city or town or has an urban outlook): cocky ("farmer")

See also

• Town and gown on Wikipedia.Wikipedia