Hillbilly - Definitions from Dictionary.com

4 results for: Hillbilly

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

hill·bil·ly

Audio Help [hil-bil-ee] Pronunciation Key noun, plural -lies, adjective

–noun

1.	Often Disparaging and Offensive. a person from a backwoods or other remote area, esp. from the mountains of the southern U.S.

–adjective

2.	of, like, or pertaining to hillbillies: hillbilly humor.

[Origin: 1895–1900, Americanism; hill + Billy

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Hillbilly

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

hill·bil·ly Audio Help (hĭl'bĭl'ē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. hill·bil·lies Informal
A person from the backwoods or a remote mountain area.

[hill + Billy, a nickname for William.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
hillbilly

"southern Appalachian resident," c.1900, from hill + masc. proper name Billy/Billie. As a type of folk music, first attested 1924.

"In short, a Hill-Billie is a free and untrammelled white citizen of Alabama, who lives in the hills, has no means to speak of, dresses as he can, talks as he pleases, drinks whiskey when he gets it, and fires of his revolver as the fancy takes him." ["New York Journal," April 23, 1900]

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