Hillbilly
Rural Appalachian native
A hillbilly is a person from a rural, mountainous region, especially the Appalachian or Ozark areas of the United States.
The term suggests someone unsophisticated, uneducated, or provincial—stereotypically poor, barefoot, fond of moonshine.
Hillbilly can be affectionate or derogatory depending on who's using it: My grandpa was a hillbilly from eastern Kentucky.
Some Appalachian people reclaim it with pride; others find it insulting.
Rural Southern laborer stereotype
- hickRural naif, derogatory
- yokelNaïve rural person
- bumpkinUnsophisticated country dweller
- rubeNaive country person
country bumpkin · backwoods · uneducated · barefoot · moonshine · overalls · straw hat · corncob pipe
Eastern U.S. mountain region
- OzarkSouth-central American highlands
- mountainTall natural landmass
- hollerLoud vocal outburst
- hollowEmpty within
ridge · Tennessee · Kentucky · West Virginia · Arkansas · rural · backcountry · remote
Acoustic Appalachian folk music
- countrySovereign state or territory
- folkRegular common people
- banjoFretted drum-stringed instrument
- fiddleAdjust restlessly; folk violin
mandolin · dulcimer · square dance · clogging · jug band · old-time · string band · ballad
Depending on oneself alone
- huntingPursuing wild game
- fishingCatching aquatic creatures
- foragingSeeking wild food sources
- moonshiningIllicit liquor production
whittling · quilting · canning · preserving · homesteading · subsistence · kinship · clan
Satisfaction from one's achievements
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- resilienceCapacity to recover quickly
- authenticityQuality of being genuine
- working-classManual laborers as group
salt of the earth · hardscrabble · survivor · roots · ancestry · tradition · independence · resourceful
redneck
Rural Southern laborer stereotype
rube · country bumpkin · backwoods · uneducated · barefoot · moonshine · overalls · straw hat · corncob pipe · outhouse
Appalachian
Eastern U.S. mountain region
hollow · ridge · Tennessee · Kentucky · West Virginia · Arkansas · rural · backcountry · remote · isolated
bluegrass
Acoustic Appalachian folk music
fiddle · mandolin · dulcimer · square dance · clogging · jug band · old-time · string band · ballad · yodeling
self-reliance
Depending on oneself alone
moonshining · whittling · quilting · canning · preserving · homesteading · subsistence · kinship · clan · feud
pride
Satisfaction from one's achievements
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- resilienceCapacity to recover quickly
- authenticityQuality of being genuine
working-class · salt of the earth · hardscrabble · survivor · roots · ancestry · tradition · independence · resourceful · handmade
Hillbillycity slicker
Savvy metropolitan dweller
urbanite · coastal elite · New Yorker · cosmopolitan · suburbanite
Hillbillyaristocrat
Person of noble birth
blue blood · socialite · elite · sophisticate · patrician
Hillbillycosmopolitan
Culturally sophisticated, internationally fluent
worldly · cultured · jet-setter · sophisticate · globetrotter
- hillbilly musicRural Appalachian folk genre
- hillbilly heroinSlang for oxycodone
- Hillbilly ElegyAppalachian upbringing memoir
- hillbilly humorComedy mocking rustic simplicity