red-light district
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of red-light district
First recorded in 1890–95; allegedly so called because brothels displayed red lights
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.
Singaporean photographer Aik Beng Chia used an image generator to depict the lives of transgender people in the city-state's Bugis street, then known as a red-light district, in the 1970s and 80s.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
A stone's throw from the US border and around the corner from Tijuana's seedy red-light district, Afghan families say they feel safe inside a first of its kind Muslim-only shelter.
From BBC ● Dec. 13, 2023
Ahmad’s extraordinarily accomplished first novel revolves around Faraz Ali, born to a prostitute in Mohalla, Lahore, Pakistan’s red-light district.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 7, 2022
The program was a culmination of a five-day residency for artists that took place in Treme, the neighborhood where Storyville, New Orleans’s former red-light district, sat.
From New York Times ● Jan. 21, 2022
Halsema, a member of the Groenlinks party, has already called for the red-light district to be closed intermittently to clean the streets of waste.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 1, 2018
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.
