"hillwalker" means: A person who takes part in hillwalking.. This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
hillwalker
(British, Irish) A person who takes part in hillwalking.
Definitions
UK
#1·Apr 27, 2026UK
(British, Irish) A person who takes part in hillwalking.
[I]n our cold Northern winters, out of doors, carried by hillwalkers, mountaineers or hunters, when it splinters in the hand, hard and brittle at those low temperatures, it is a valuable and harmless food.
For parents
"hillwalker" means: A person who takes part in hillwalking.. This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
For ESL learners
"hillwalker" means: A person who takes part in hillwalking.. Register: neutral, standard English, usable in most everyday contexts. Note the regional or dialect label (British) — usage may sound odd outside that variety. A common non-native mistake is to use the word in the wrong register, or to assume one fixed meaning when it is actually polysemous; always check the surrounding register and the audience before producing it yourself. In formal writing, prefer a neutral synonym or a short descriptive phrase, and use this word only when you have heard or read it being used naturally in a comparable context.
Cluster: general
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For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
Used in
UK
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🇬🇧About British & Irish slang slang
UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
See all British & Irish slang slang on Slangora.
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Other words near "hillwalker" (H)
Browse all slang words starting with H.
Related terms
People also read
Semantically related
- hillwalking86%
(British, Irish) The pastime of walking in hilly countryside.
- fellwalker80%
(British) A person who takes part in fellwalking.
- fellwalker73%
A British English term for someone who hikes across fells -- the open, elevated moorland of northern England, particularly the Lake District. Fellwalking is a distinct British outdoors tradition, closely associated with Alfred Wainwright's famous guidebooks. A fellwalker typically navigates unmarked or rough terrain rather than manicured trails, and the word carries connotations of rugged self-reliance and a certain stoic enjoyment of bad weather.
- fellwalker72%
A British term for someone who hikes across fells — the open, rugged upland moors of northern England, especially in the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales. Fellwalkers aren't casual strollers; they're the waterproof-clad, OS-map-folding types who tackle boggy terrain in drizzle and consider it a brilliant weekend. The word carries a sense of hardy, no-fuss outdoor culture deeply embedded in northern English identity.
- bushwalker69%
(Australia, New Zealand) A hiker or backpacker.