flyover country
Between the coasts
Flyover country is a dismissive term for the vast interior of the United States—the rural and suburban regions between the coasts that coastal elites supposedly only see from airplane windows.
The phrase carries class and cultural freight, implying these areas are unremarkable or backward: Politicians ignore flyover country until election season.
Sometimes reclaimed by Midwesterners with defiant pride.
North-central American region
- Great PlainsCentral North American grassland
- wheatbeltGrain-dominant farming region
- breadbasketMajor grain-producing region
- red statesRepublican-voting regions
small-town · Main Street · family values · working class · salt of the earth · backbone · authenticity · tradition
Preference for privileged rule
- stereotypeFixed oversimplified notion
- condescensionDemeaning air of superiority
- oversimplifiedMade misleadingly basic
- caricatureExaggerated comic depiction
fly-by · bypassed · overlooked · ignored · forgotten · invisible · neglected · underestimated
Agricultural terrain
- cornfieldsCultivated grain expanses
- soybeansProtein-rich Asian legume
- wheatCereal crop for flour
- agricultureCultivation of land, livestock
countryside · barns · silos · tractors · harvest · ranching · livestock · pastoral
Midwest
North-central American region
- Great PlainsCentral North American grassland
- wheatbeltGrain-dominant farming region
- breadbasketMajor grain-producing region
red states · small-town · Main Street · family values · working class · salt of the earth · backbone · authenticity · tradition · community
elitism
Preference for privileged rule
- stereotypeFixed oversimplified notion
- condescensionDemeaning air of superiority
- oversimplifiedMade misleadingly basic
caricature · fly-by · bypassed · overlooked · ignored · forgotten · invisible · neglected · underestimated · unappreciated
farmland
Agricultural terrain
- cornfieldsCultivated grain expanses
- soybeansProtein-rich Asian legume
- wheatCereal crop for flour
agriculture · countryside · barns · silos · tractors · harvest · ranching · livestock · pastoral · homestead
Iowa
Great Plains farming state
Ohio · Indiana · Illinois · Missouri · Minnesota · Wisconsin · Michigan · Dakota · Arkansas · Kentucky
- Americanismsaluminum, fixin' to, apartment, howdy, candy
- HeartlandMidwest, Great Plains, cornfields, farms, farmhouses
- regional biasregionalism, regional pride, sectionalism, localism, provincialism
- MidwestIndiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota
- Rural Americafarm, barns, heartland, countryside, Midwest
- rural areasvillage, villages, hamlet, hamlets, countryside
flyover countrycoastal elite
Privileged urban seaboard residents
East Coast · West Coast · coastal metropolis · New York City · Los Angeles
flyover countrydestination
Intended arrival point
travel destination · must-see destination · stopover · arrival point · port of call
country, flying, flown, countries, flyover, flypast, flyovers