honky-tonk
Americannoun
adjective
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Also honky-tonky of, relating to, or characteristic of a honky-tonk.
a honky-tonk atmosphere.
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characterized by or having a large number of honky-tonks.
the honky-tonk part of town.
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Music. noting a style of ragtime piano-playing characterized by a strict two-four or four-four bass, either contrapuntal or chordal, and a melody embellished with chords and syncopated rhythms, typically performed on a piano whose strings have been muffled and given a tinny sound.
verb (used without object)
noun
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slang
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a cheap disreputable nightclub, bar, etc
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( as modifier )
a honky-tonk district
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a style of ragtime piano-playing, esp on a tinny-sounding piano
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a type of country music, usually performed by a small band with electric and steel guitars
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( as modifier )
honky-tonk music
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of honky-tonk
1890–95, rhyming compound based on honk
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.
Her band, CC and the Boys, has also played at Lucinda’s and nearly every other honky-tonk in town.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
In more recent history, New Yorkers seeking a honky-tonk experience have flocked to the divey Skinny Dennis in Williamsburg, which opened in 2013.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
You won't find him on Broadway or in the city's famous honky-tonk music bars.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2025
“I’m gonna add a red bandanna and put Willie braids on it,” he says — a music nerd’s reference to the fabled honky-tonk that shuttered nearly three decades before he was born.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2025
When the main crowd of worshipers reached the short bridge spanning the pond, the ragged sound of honky-tonk music assailed them.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
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.
