Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A person from the backwoods or a remote mountain area.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Someone who is from the hills; especially from a rural area, with a connotation of a lack of refinement or sophistication.
  • noun A white person from the rural southern part of the United States.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a disparaging term for an unsophisticated person

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[hill + Billy, a nickname for William.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From hill +‎ Billy

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Examples

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  • The much-maligned, fiercely proud mountain people of Appalachia.

    February 6, 2007