Meaning & use
rural lifestyle
Last updated
Meanings
phrasecountable
The way of life of people who live in the countryside, away from large towns and cities.
Grammar: Countable phrase; use 'a' or a plural: a rural lifestyle, rural lifestyles.
Patterns
- a rural lifestyle
- rural lifestyles
- live a rural lifestyle
After twenty years in the city, they chose a rural lifestyle in the mountains.
A rural lifestyle often means long drives to the nearest hospital or school.
The documentary compares urban and rural lifestyles in the same country.
phrasecountable
The set of activities, values and habits typically connected with country living, such as farming or keeping animals.
Grammar: Often used when discussing culture or tradition rather than just location.
Patterns
- the rural lifestyle
- traditional rural lifestyles
- adopt a rural lifestyle
Many young people are returning to a traditional rural lifestyle.
Her paintings celebrate the rural lifestyle of the region.
Cheap internet has made the rural lifestyle more appealing to remote workers.
Word forms
| plural | rural lifestyles |
|---|
Common combinations
- a traditional rural lifestyle
- They keep sheep and grow vegetables, following a traditional rural lifestyle.
- embrace a rural lifestyle
- More families are embracing a rural lifestyle to escape city noise.
- the rural lifestyle of a region
- The book describes the rural lifestyle of farming communities in the north.
- switch to a rural lifestyle
- After retiring, she switched to a rural lifestyle and bought a small farm.
- urban and rural lifestyles
- The survey compares urban and rural lifestyles across five countries.
Synonyms and how they differ
- country life
- Very close in meaning but slightly more informal and often romantic in tone.
- country living
- Similar, but usually stresses the practical side of living in the countryside.
- pastoral life
- A literary term suggesting an idealized, peaceful shepherd-like existence.
Opposites
Word family
- rural adjective
- Connected with the countryside: rural areas, rural roads.
- ruralism noun
- A rare word for the quality or outlook of country life.
Commonly confused: rural lifestyle or rural? rural lifestyle or rustic?
rural lifestyle vs rural
'Rural' is the adjective describing the countryside; 'rural lifestyle' is the full noun phrase for the way of life there.
rural lifestyle vs rustic
'Rustic' describes something plain and countryside-styled, like furniture; it does not describe how people live.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
As a countable phrase it needs a determiner, so 'a rural lifestyle' is correct. Option 2 is missing the article, option 3 wrongly suggests there is only one such lifestyle, and option 4 also lacks the article.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “rural lifestyle”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.