speakeasy
[ speek-ee-zee ]
/ ˈspikˌi zi /
|
noun, plural speak·eas·ies.
a saloon or nightclub selling alcoholic beverages illegally, especially during Prohibition.
Nearby words
Word story
Speakeasies are usually and correctly associated with American Prohibition (1920–33), but the word actually goes back to the late 1880s in the United States, and back even further in Australia (the 1830s). Speakeasies are so named not because the customers were quiet, shy, or taciturn, but because no one wanted to attract the attention of unsympathetic neighbors, the local police, or the revenuers by talking too loudly.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for speakeasies
After falling out of style, they're back and ready to compete with speakeasies from New Orleans to NYC.
But like American speakeasies during prohibition in the USA, these places are oases in a desert of official prudery.
Maybe the machine covered only the area around the various banks, speakeasies, bars and horse parlors.
The Old Die Rich|Horace Leonard Gold
British Dictionary definitions for speakeasies
speakeasy
/ (ˈspiːkˌiːzɪ) /
noun plural -easies
US a place where alcoholic drink was sold illicitly during Prohibition
Word Origin for speakeasy
C19: from speak + easy (in the sense: gently, quietly)
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
Word Origin and History for speakeasies
speakeasy
"unlicensed saloon," 1889 (in New York "Voice"), from speak + easy; so called from the practice of speaking quietly about such a place in public, or when inside it, so as not to alert the police and neighbors. The word gained wide currency in U.S. during Prohibition (1920-1932). In early 19c. Irish and British dialect, a speak softly shop meant "smuggler's den."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper