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The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies (Clockwise from top left) Irene Ryan, Max Baer, Jr., Buddy Ebsen, and Donna Douglas in The Beverly Hillbillies.

hillbilly

cultural term
Also known as: hill-billie
Written by
Jordana Rosenfeld
Jordana Rosenfeld is a copy editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Jordana Rosenfeld
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
Last updated
•History

The term hillbilly, which is often considered pejorative, refers to isolated white Americans with origins in rural and mountainous areas, often in the South, Appalachia, or the Ozarks. The hillbilly has been a particularly enduring image in American culture, one that has come to symbolize not only largely negative images of unsophisticated white rural Americans but also a values system based on a simpler life that has been portrayed in popular culture and elevated by...

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