brier

¹ American  

[brahy-er] / ˈbraɪ ər /

Or briar

noun

1. a prickly plant or shrub, especially the sweetbrier or a greenbrier.

2. a tangled mass of prickly plants.

3. a thorny stem or twig.

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brier ² American  

[brahy-er] / ˈbraɪ ər /

Or briar

noun

1. the white heath, Erica arborea, of France and Corsica, the woody root of which is used for making tobacco pipes.

2. a pipe made of brierroot.

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brier ³ American  

[brahy-er] / ˈbraɪ ər /

Or briar

noun

Usually Disparaging.

1. (chiefly in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee) a term used to refer to a rustic, unsophisticated person, especially one from Appalachia.

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brier ¹ British  

/ ˈbraɪə /

noun

1. any of various thorny shrubs or other plants, such as the sweetbrier and greenbrier

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brier ² British  

/ ˈbraɪə /

noun

1. a variant spelling of briar 1

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Sensitive Note

This term is usually used with disparaging intent to refer to those white people who migrated north and west from Southern Appalachia throughout the first half of the 20th century. These migrants, mostly from eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, were looking for jobs in southeastern Ohio and other places. Brier has negative connotations similar to words such as hillbilly and redneck . But brier has also been used as a term of self-reference by the migrants themselves and their descendants.

Other Word Forms

• briery adjective

Etymology

Origin of brier¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English brer, breir, Old English brǣr, brēr; akin to bramble

Origin of brier²

First recorded in 1865–70; earlier bruyer, from French bruyère, Old French, from unattested Vulgar Latin brūcāria “field of heather, heath,” from Late Latin brūcus “heath,” from unattested Gaulish broiko- (from Celtic wroiko-, source of Old Irish froech, Welsh grug ) + Latin -āria feminine of Latin noun suffix -arius; -ary, -er ², -ar ²

Origin of brier³

First recorded in 1895–1900; shortening of brier breaker, briar breaker, probably a reference to the brier bushes found in Southern Appalachia; brier ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

Ms. Nichols isn’t alone in her desire to dream up chic schmattas in which to till your brier patch.

From New York Times • Oct. 21, 2020

“My attitude is, ‘OK, throw us in that brier patch.

From Washington Times • Dec. 19, 2019

Luckily, baseball has four years to work through this brier patch.

From Washington Post • Feb. 28, 2018

Oh, please don't throw me into the brier patch!

From Seattle Times • Sep. 17, 2010

“Look at them! They look like they’ve been run through a brier patch.”

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

Related Words

• foliage
• hedge
• shrubbery
• thicket
• topiary
• tree