Synonyms of bootleg

bootleg 1 of 3

noun

ˈbüt-ˌleg 

as in alcohol

illegally produced liquor

getting caught with bootleg during Prohibition could have resulted in a jail sentence

Synonyms & Similar Words

• alcohol
• booze
• drink
• moonshine
• rum
• juice
• mountain dew
• white lightning
• spirits
• hooch
• rotgut
• tipple
• bathtub gin
• strong drink
• grog
• firewater
• ardent spirits
• red-eye
• John Barleycorn
• potable

bootleg

2 of 3

adjective

as in unauthorized

made or sold illegally

During the Prohibition era, many people made their own bootleg whiskey.

He was arrested for selling bootleg copies of the album.

Related Words

• unauthorized
• unlicensed
• illicit
• illegal
• smuggled
• contraband
• unsanctioned
• unapproved
• under-the-table
• improper
• criminal
• under-the-counter
• illegitimate
• wrongful
• unlawful
• outlawed
• prohibited
• felonious
• forbidden
• proscribed
• banned
• disallowed
• barred
• criminalized
• interdicted
• discouraged

Dissimilar Words

• permitted
• licensed
• authorized
• approved
• endorsed
• proper
• legal
• legitimate
• allowed
• promoted
• correct
• decent
• supported
• sanctioned
• lawful
• suggested
• decorous
• encouraged
• abetted
• seemly

bootleg

3 of 3

verb

as in to smuggle

Related Words

• smuggle
• merchandise
• fence
• black-market
• resell
• bargain
• exchange
• barter
• buy
• purchase
• sell
• auction
• wholesale
• negotiate
• swap
• transact
• supply
• horse-trade
• distribute
• retail
• market
• peddle
• vend
• rebuy
• monopolize
• pick up
• trade
• traffic
• undersell
• corner
• fair-trade
• take
• deal
• speculate
• engross
• invest
• day-trade

Dissimilar Words

• black
• boycott
• blackball

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of bootleg

Noun

Thursday’s raid was a part of the NYPD’s ongoing efforts to crack down on the city’s trade in bootleg merchandise, and follows five raids targeting vendors in Lower Manhattan between May 20 and June 12, cops said. — Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 27 June 2026

The audio is a fairly even mix of sound desk recordings and fan bootlegs, with some spliced together to get the best audio quality. — Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 25 June 2026

Verb

Living in Woodstock, New York, Dylan spent a lot of time in nearby Saugerties at the Band’s famous Big Pink house, recording dozens of songs that were heavily bootlegged and sometimes sent to other artists to record. — Al Shipley, SPIN, 25 Dec. 2024

The quarterback can bootleg in and out of the perimeter of cameras, as the testing aims to simulate as many football movements as possible. — Jourdan Rodrigue, The Athletic, 27 Aug. 2024