speakeasy
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of speakeasy
Explanation
During the time of Prohibition, people who wanted an alcoholic drink had to visit a speakeasy, or an illegal bar. In 1920 the United States began a failed experiment in social engineering, referred to today as Prohibition. Good citizens wasted little time in subverting laws banning the sale and consumption of alcohol by frequenting an establishment called the speakeasy — which, according to one slang lexicographer, may have come from a patron's manner of ordering an alcoholic drink without raising suspicion. The word may also be related to "speak softly shop," the nineteenth century Irish term for a smuggler's den.
Vocabulary lists containing speakeasy
Chapter 13, Sections 1–3
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The Mighty Miss Malone
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Night Owls
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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.
"What a place this is!" he gushed, of Invercargill, excitement bursting out of him like he was in some rooftop bar in downtown Tokyo or a speakeasy in the East Village in New York.
From BBC • May 17, 2026
Donatell’s gas station has become an informal lobby for those waiting for a seat in the speakeasy.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
Janes House was bought by a developer and moved to the back of its lot where it was restored; it is now the speakeasy No Vacancy.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 9, 2026
Hood, Ling and other entrepreneurs paved the way for places like Laowai—a speakeasy inspired by Prohibition-era Shanghai.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 27, 2025
Molly remembered the building from when it was new and had still been a hotel and speakeasy.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
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.
