as in alcohol
illegally produced liquor
getting caught with bootleg during Prohibition could have resulted in a jail sentence
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
as in to smuggle
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of bootleg
Susan Saulny, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Oct. 2024
Land of the Free, Home of the Bootleggers When technology made music mobile, the American South changed from one type of bootlegging industry to another: copying and selling records.
—JSTOR Daily, 24 June 2024
Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025
The spread of bootleg clips prompted NBC Universal to ask YouTube to remove the clip and other NBC footage for copyright reasons in February 2006.
—Katherine Schulten, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bootleg
Noun
This was the era of Prohibition, dominated by bootlegging gangsters—Chicago alone was said to be home to 1,300 gangs—and some police departments adopted increasingly brutal tactics to wring the truth out of suspects: beating and burning detainees with cigarettes, or depriving them of sleep.
—Susan Saulny, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Oct. 2024
Land of the Free, Home of the Bootleggers When technology made music mobile, the American South changed from one type of bootlegging industry to another: copying and selling records.
—JSTOR Daily, 24 June 2024
Adjective
Between studio recordings, re-releases, deluxe editions, live albums, and a bootleg series that just keeps growing, fans of the Canadian talent never have to wait long before getting their hands on brand new work.
—Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025
The spread of bootleg clips prompted NBC Universal to ask YouTube to remove the clip and other NBC footage for copyright reasons in February 2006.
—Katherine Schulten, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bootleg
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bootleg
Noun
-
Officers patrolling the park found the man drinking an open container of alcohol by W. 137th St. and Riverside Drive at about 10:05 p.m. Thursday.—
Thomas Tracy,
New York Daily News,
28 June 2025
-
Steele was arrested in 2024 for driving under the influence of alcohol after a car crash, but has been fighting the charge and is due back in court later this summer.—
A.D. Quig,
Chicago Tribune,
27 June 2025
Adjective
-
The company detected unauthorized third-party access to internal U.S. business systems on Nov. 6.—
Catherine Muccigrosso,
Charlotte Observer,
1 July 2025
-
Virtual events can open the door to serious threats like data breaches, phishing attacks and unauthorized access to proprietary content.—
Michele Dobnikar,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
Verb
-
The Justice Department indicted him in May on two counts of conspiring to smuggle and transport migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Ecuador into the U.S.—
Kaelan Deese,
The Washington Examiner,
25 June 2025
-
To save the family, son Cane (Jake Weary) decides to start using the family’s fishing boat to smuggle drugs.—
Keith Langston,
People.com,
21 June 2025
Noun
-
Amid the frenzied party — which included Sam Reinhart climbing a stripper pole, Brad Marchand crowd surfing and, yes, plenty of booze flowing — a key player might have revealed big news regarding his future with the team.—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
20 June 2025
-
The booze was part of it, a likely symptom at first, and later a cause.—
Mark Kriegel
June 4,
Literary Hub,
4 June 2025
Verb
-
Everything Estée Lauder did was first-class and so many of us learned from every aspect — leadership skills to merchandising to marketing.—
Jenny B. Fine,
Footwear News,
17 June 2025
-
But his true character is subsumed by a flurry of moments that seem designed to be memed or turned into future merchandising opportunities.—
Barry Levitt,
Time,
21 May 2025
Noun
-
This makes enough green tomato water for about 6 cocktails Serving Suggestion To mix one drink: Fill a glass with ice.—
Josh Miller,
Southern Living,
22 June 2025
-
The pink tropical drink is light, effervescent, and quickly gaining a following—but getting your hands on a bottle of its main aperitif isn’t so easy.—
Lauren Thomann,
Better Homes & Gardens,
21 June 2025
Verb
-
That their beloved city is now going to be fenced off for the sake of one of the richest men in the world feels to many locals like adding insult to injury.—
Giulia Carbonaro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 June 2025
-
The property has been fenced off ever since, but trespassers never stopped getting in.—
Don Stacom,
Hartford Courant,
9 June 2025
Noun
-
Tours include an entire history of moonshining in Appalachia and Eastern Kentucky, an overview of the distilling process, and four tasting tokens that can be used for beer or moonshine in the brewery and distillery.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
20 Sep. 2024
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Its moonshine is made of 100% corn.—
Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton,
The Denver Post,
30 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Bootleg.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bootleg. Accessed 7 Jul. 2025.
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