adj. 1
Of or pertaining to shepherds or herders of other livestock.
adj. 2
Relating to rural life and scenes, in particular of poetry.
We were living a pastoral life.
adj. 3
Relating to the care of souls, to the pastor of a church or to any local religious leader charged with the service of individual parishioners, i.e. a priest or rabbi.
n. 1
A poem describing the life and manners of shepherds; a poem in which the speakers assume the character of shepherds; an idyll; a bucolic.

Forms

Plural: pastorals → idylls, pastorales, eclogues…

Choose the right word

Pastoral or Bucolic?

Pastoral refers to the care of flocks, and to the shepherd's life with the pleasing associations suggested by the old poetic ideal of that life; as, pastoral poetry. Bucolic is kindred to pastoral, but is a less elevated term, and sometimes slightly contemptuous.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

rural She is getting used to this rural life by degrees.
rustic The cabin Gustavo constructed was cozy and rustic.
bucolic No machines disturbed the bucolic scene.
ministerial Tom left the ministerial profession after suffering a crisis of faith.
clerical Maybe Tom made a clerical error.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
pastoral		steady
rural		falling
rustic		rising
bucolic		rising
arcadian		steady
ministerial		steady

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters: idyl
5 letters: rural², idyll²
6 letters: rustic², cleric²
7 letters: nomadic³, bucolic³, eclogue
8 letters: clerical³, arcadian⁴
9 letters: pastorale
10 letters: shepherdly
11 letters: ministerial⁵, shepherdish

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (rural² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: pastoral
Italiano: pastorale