Standard Lemma guide

sandlapper

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A native of South Carolina.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

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Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Upon visiting Columbia/Lancaster, SC, in 1791, George Washington is said to have called the people living on the sands near the river shores sandlappers. An alternative etymology is that the word was used before and during the American Revolution by the British and the residents of the Carolina coast to refer to residents of the river-bottoms and more generally of the back country and piedmont areas of South Carolina. The word originally had a pejorative connotation, not unlike hillbilly.