clay eater

noun

, Usually Disparaging.

1. (in the South Atlantic States) a term used to refer to a poor, uneducated person from a rural area.

Sensitive Note

This term refers to the eating of clay-rich dirt, a persistent custom among poor white and Black people in some rural areas of the South.

Word History and Origins

Origin of clay eater¹

An Americanism dating back to 1835–45