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Synonyms

house of ill repute

American  

noun

  1. a house of prostitution; whorehouse; brothel.

house of ill repute British  

noun

  1. a euphemistic name for brothel

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of house of ill repute

First recorded in 1720–30

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.

Maureen , an older woman living alone in a former house of ill repute owned by her gangster son, Jimmy Phelan, clocks an intruder on the head with a gaudy religious tchotchke.

From Washington Post • Aug. 6, 2016

It was a disgrace that Abraham Lincoln died in a theater because a theater was a house of ill repute.

From New York Times • Jan. 22, 2013

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.