dive bar

[dahyv bahr]

noun

Slang.

1. a dingy, disreputable, or seedy bar or tavern.

   We met for a drink at this dank, dimly lit dive bar around the corner.

Word History and Origins

Origin of dive bar¹

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

“I do think it’s a sign of progress that younger drag queens don’t all have to crawl on their hands and knees through the dive bar experience. However, DeLa and I learned so much of what we use today with large audiences by honing those skills with itty-bitty audiences locally. We’ve just trained ourselves to turn the dial up.”

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“We used to love going to the Smog Cutter,” she says of the shuttered Silver Lake dive bar, “to have a couple Bud Lights and sing Mariah Carey really poorly.”

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When I was a broke college student, my friends and I frequented the same dirty-but-cheap dive bar.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Even if you know that Bruce Springsteen has a cameo, by the time he shows up towards the end of “Ten Years Gone” sounding suitably ragged and rough around the edges, he’s just another element of the story, and it feels like you wandered into some random dive bar only to find the Boss holding court in the corner, telling stories.

Read more on Salon

It all started in 1973 when proprietor Hilly Kristal transformed his dive bar into a venue for Country, Bluegrass, Blues and Other Music for Uplifting Gormandizers — CBGB-OMFUG for short.

Read more on Los Angeles Times