bootleg 1 of 3

noun

ˈbüt-ˌleg How to pronounce bootleg (audio)
Definition of bootlegnext
as in alcohol
illegally produced liquor getting caught with bootleg during Prohibition could have resulted in a jail sentence

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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

Dissimilar Words

bootleg

3 of 3

verb

as in to smuggle

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Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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
After the songs were bootlegged for years, Coe began selling them on his website in 2000, though without his name on them. — Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 30 Apr. 2026 With Dallas leading 27-21 and San Francisco driving late in the fourth quarter, Joe Montana and the 49ers lined up in a split formation, with Montana bootlegging out to the right upon taking the snap. — R.j. Coyle, Dallas Morning News, 25 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for bootleg
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bootleg
  1. alcohol
  2. unauthorized
  3. smuggle
  4. booze
  5. merchandise
  6. drink
  7. fence
  8. moonshine
Noun
  • All involved persons are in their 20s, according to scanner audio, and alcohol may have been involved in the incident.
    — Corey Schmidt, Sacbee.com, 26 July 2026
  • Research by British alcohol awareness charity Drinkaware shows an increasing number are embracing low and no-alcohol drinks.
    — Mustafa Qadri, CNN Money, 25 July 2026
Definition of alcohol
Adjective
  • In response, approximately 25% of developers now design APIs with agents as the primary end consumer rather than humans, and over half of them cite unauthorized agent access as a security concern.
    — Mia Osmonbekov, Fortune, 23 July 2026
  • Hugging Face disclosed that investigators reconstructed more than 17,000 forensic events associated with the intrusion while confirming unauthorized access to certain internal systems and service credentials.
    — Emil Sayegh, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026
Definition of unauthorized
Verb
  • They were repatriated through cooperation between Indonesia’s Culture Ministry and the FBI after provenance research established the objects had been smuggled out of Indonesia, Zon said.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 23 July 2026
  • They were repatriated through cooperation between the FBI and the ministry after provenance research established that they had been smuggled out of Indonesia, Zon added.
    — Anne Doran, ARTnews.com, 23 July 2026
Definition of smuggle
Noun
  • The Sports Playbook Shifts From Beer To Spirits For decades, booze sales in sports stadiums were dominated by large brewers.
    — John Kell, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026
  • That led to most Canadian provinces banning the sale of American booze as of March 2025 (only Alberta and Saskatchewan have lifted their bans).
    — Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 23 July 2026
Definition of booze
Verb
  • The president has also profited from merchandising deals and high-dollar political and official events at his properties, significantly increasing his net worth since returning to power.
    — Bill Barrow, Fortune, 17 July 2026
  • Perhaps no group before or since has merchandised better than the Dead.
    — Hilton Als, New Yorker, 17 July 2026
Definition of merchandise
Noun
  • Research by British alcohol awareness charity Drinkaware shows an increasing number are embracing low and no-alcohol drinks.
    — Mustafa Qadri, CNN Money, 25 July 2026
  • Warm milk delivers tryptophan, an amino acid the body uses to produce serotonin and melatonin, which is why the old-school bedtime drink has stuck around.
    — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson July 24, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 July 2026
Definition of drink
Verb
  • As such, the potential for habitat loss and fragmentation is very high, due to clearing land and fencing off large fields, which can displace ground animals and block migration routes.
    — Indrabati Lahiri, Forbes.com, 26 July 2026
  • Part of the reserve is being fenced and the number of rangers has increased to protect the animals from poachers.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 July 2026
Definition of fence
Noun
  • The Carnaval de Guaranda, for instance, takes inspiration from a rowdy annual fiesta held in the Bolivar Province and is made with vodka, hops, figs, white truffle, turmeric, and a local moonshine called pájaro azul.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 July 2026
  • Barthel laments that anti-cannabis laws encouraged growers to develop highly potent strains, just as Prohibition in the 1920s put potentially lethal moonshine into circulation.
    — Martha Ross, Mercury News, 6 July 2026
Definition of moonshine

Browse Nearby Words

booting (up)
bootleg
bootlegged
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Cite this Entry

“Bootleg.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bootleg. Accessed 1 Aug. 2026.

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