bootlegger

noun

boot·​leg·​ger ˈbüt-ˌle-gər 

-ˌlā-

plural bootleggers

: one who bootlegs something: such as

a

: a person who makes or sells alcoholic liquor illegally

… in sleepy little St-Hilaire, once a Prohibition boom town, from which bootleggers smuggled truckloads of whisky into the U.S. …

—Will Ferguson

Most of us associate the pocket flask with the Roaring Twenties era of the bootlegger and the speakeasy …

—Linda Rosenkrantz

b

: a person who produces, reproduces, or distributes something (such as a recording) illicitly or without authorization

As part of his job, Schoenfeld is charged with ferreting out record bootleggers and protecting the copyright interests of record labels.

—Holly Gleason

… the conversation ran from how the different companies project returns on direct mail to efforts to crack down on software bootleggers.

—Leslie Brokaw

Synonyms

• smuggler

Examples of bootlegger in a Sentence

a bootlegger of counterfeit electronics

Recent Examples on the Web

The band’s ninth studio album has been restored, remastered and expanded with an additional 25 bonus tracks, spanning alternate studio takes and live recordings by the famed bootlegger Mike Millard at Pink Floyd’s Los Angeles Sports Arena concert on April 26, 1975. —Sophie Williams, Billboard, 12 Sep. 2025

Counterfeit merchandise has long been a problem for musicians, with suppliers and artists now contending with new school online retailers and old school bootleggers hawking wares outside of concerts. —Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 9 Sep. 2025

The granddaughter of a bootlegger grows up to be an upstanding citizen and a minister’s wife. —Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Aug. 2025

Sharon Stone co-stars as a mob boss with a few screws loose — her gang of bootleggers toggles with Hutch, threatening to ruin everyone’s R&R. —Brent Lang, Variety, 15 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

bootleg entry 1 + -er entry 2

First Known Use

1886, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for bootlegger

• beggar
• egger
• jaeger