bootleg
Americannoun
-
alcoholic liquor unlawfully made, sold, or transported, without registration or payment of taxes.
-
the part of a boot that covers the leg.
-
something, as a recording, made, reproduced, or sold illegally or without authorization.
a flurry of bootlegs to cash in on the rock star's death.
verb (used with object)
-
bootlegs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bootlegged,
past participle, past
-
bootlegging
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
bootlegs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bootlegged,
past participle, past
-
bootlegging
present participle
adjective
-
made, sold, or transported unlawfully.
-
illegal or clandestine.
-
of or relating to bootlegging.
verb
noun
-
something made or sold illicitly, such as alcohol during Prohibition in the US
-
an illegally made copy of a CD, tape, etc
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
bootlegsimple
-
bootlegssimple
-
have bootleggedperfect
-
has bootleggedperfect
-
am bootleggingprogressive
-
are bootleggingprogressive
-
is bootleggingprogressive
-
have been bootleggingperfect progressive
-
has been bootleggingperfect progressive
Past
-
bootleggedsimple
-
had bootleggedperfect
-
was bootleggingprogressive
-
were bootleggingprogressive
-
had been bootleggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bootleg
An Americanism first recorded in 1625–35; boot 1 + leg; secondary senses arose from practice of hiding a liquor bottle in the leg of one's boot
Explanation
Use the adjective bootleg to describe something that is sold illegally, usually because it was stolen in the first place. If you download a movie on your computer and then sell it to a friend, it's a bootleg film. Bootleg is good for describing something that's stolen, smuggled, or pirated. You can use it as a verb, too, when you're talking about selling something illegal or obtained in a sneaky way, like secret recordings of a rock concert or contraband candy at summer camp. The word bootleg, which originally meant simply "the leg of a boot," refers to alcohol smugglers' trick of hiding flasks inside their boots.
Vocabulary lists containing bootleg
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This is not new: authorities in Vietnam perennially and publicly bust bootleg vendors to show that they are doing something about the country's ubiquitous shadow economies.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
We’ve even bought bootleg merch at Mexican markets and on Temu or AliExpress too,” Roy said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
Bradley got work dancing at Connie’s Inn, the exclusive Harlem black-and-tan club where the draw for white patrons was bootleg liquor and black entertainers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
Retatrutide is so effective that a gray market for bootleg versions of the drug, which hasn’t been approved for sale, has been thriving for more than two years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 29, 2025
Winchell fakes the hand-off and goes around the right end on a bootleg, angling for the end zone.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
After its initial theatrical run, Lindsay-Hogg’s film largely disappeared for more than a half-century with the exception of low-quality VHS versions and bootlegs.
From New York Times ● Apr. 16, 2024
And presumably, he can print some crazy, one-off Deep Purple bootlegs just for himself?
From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2023
Detroit never did figure out Smith’s bootlegs, and Smith smartly used his legs to rush for 49 yards on seven carries and a TD, along with his 320 passing yards and two touchdown passes.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 2, 2022
At the Senior Bowl in February, Strong tried to show teams how much his mobility on bootlegs and in the pocket had progressed.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 4, 2022
She prodded at the radio and found a college station, staticky and amateurish, and nodded her head along with the mash-up mixes and concert bootlegs the DJ was spinning.
From Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town by Cory Doctorow
But a growing number of fans say a crackdown on bootlegged merchandise is hampering that spirit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
This is like as close to getting bootlegged as possible.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
In the salons I went to as a child, I remember men peddling bootlegged movies and fashions to the clients with their hair wrapped or freshly sheened as they dug for cash in their purses.
From New York Times ● Nov. 13, 2023
Atlanta’s young quarterback, Desmond Ridder, bootlegged for a 6-yard touchdown on fourth-and-4 with just under 12 minutes remaining.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 17, 2023
I wish I could stop one of them and give them sage advice about the future and bootlegged exams.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
Ryan Coogler’s bootlegging, Southern vampire blockbuster is smart, ambitious, original and masterfully executed — a classic best picture contender.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2025
To combat the bootlegging, his team chose to persuade major retailers to buy scrunchies from them rather than seek damages through litigation.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 19, 2022
By 1987, bootlegging caused tax revenues to fall by some 100 billion rubles.
From New York Times ● Aug. 30, 2022
Such ostentatious displays of wealth helped place Olmstead’s bootlegging racket in the crosshairs of the Seattle Prohibition office, which moved all its manpower and resources to take him down as quickly as possible.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 8, 2021
“What could be more dangerous than a fake quarantine and a town-sponsored bootlegging operation?”
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
