brothel

noun

broth·​el ˈbrä-thəl How to pronounce brothel (audio) ˈbrȯ- How to pronounce brothel (audio)
 also  -t͟həl
plural brothels
: a building in which prostitutes are available
For recreation, there were bars, after-hours joints, pool halls, strip joints, brothels, and transient motels.Darlene Nall
Elizaveta is happy to become the madam of a high-class brothel.Jonathan Fast
In the brutal red-light district of Chicago, at the dawn of the 20th century, most brothels emphasized "efficiency instead of fantasy."Ada Calhoun

Examples of brothel in a Sentence

the district is infamous for its brothels and drug dealers
Recent Examples on the Web Packed with saloons, brothels and gambling halls, Jerome earned a reputation as a wild and wooly place. Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 22 Mar. 2024 Providing all the evil that one camp can handle is Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), the bullying, ruthless, sadistic owner of the town’s saloon, brothel and hotel. Barry Garron, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Mar. 2024 Strangely, instead of hiding the escapee in his basement, Stephan had taken the pilot out in public — still dressed in his POW overalls — for food and drink and paid for his visit to a brothel near the Fox Theatre. Jack Kresnak, Detroit Free Press, 21 Jan. 2024 In Meiji-era Japan, a 15-year-old girl is sold to an exclusive brothel far from her home. Jenny Comita, New York Times, 19 Mar. 2024 So did human traffickers accompanying flashily dressed prostitutes to brothels set up for overseers of the marijuana farms. Sebastian Rotella, ProPublica, 14 Mar. 2024 The woman Britt referenced testified before Congress about being forced to work in Mexican brothels from 2004 to 2008, when George W. Bush was in the White House and Biden was still a senator. Rachel Pannett, Washington Post, 10 Mar. 2024 Additionally, the other girls in the Paris brothel wore nipple prosthetics, and Kathryn Hunter’s character, Swiney, the brothel madam, was covered in full-body tattoos. Beatrice Verhoeven, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Feb. 2024 And Shona [Heath] and James [Price], our production designers, had used those in Madame Swiney’s brothel. Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'brothel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, worthless fellow, prostitute, from brothen, past participle of brethen to waste away, go to ruin, from Old English brēothan to waste away; akin to Old English brēotan to break — more at brittle

First Known Use

1566, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of brothel was in 1566

Dictionary Entries Near brothel

Cite this Entry

“Brothel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brothel. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.

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