as in bootleg
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Recent Examples of rotgut
As alcohol bans lingered, poorer quality substitutes increasingly overwhelmed the black market: bathtub gin, pure grain alcohol and other rotguts.
—
David Reamer | Alaska History, Anchorage Daily News, 23 July 2023
But mingling with Robert Mitchum and Lana Turner, cocktail in hand, makes even a rotgut movie a top-shelf experience.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 16 May 2023
Born in 1912 to a Kashmiri family in the northern state of Punjab, Manto fell under the spell of Gorky and Poe, not to mention the rotgut that would kill him at the age of forty-two.
—Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 26 Dec. 2022
During that time, rotgut liquor wasn’t ideal for drinking straight, which made speakeasies get creative, birthing some delicious cocktails that endure to this day.
—Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 14 Nov. 2021
Moonshine that falls into the rotgut category could be dangerous and even deadly for anyone desperate enough to drink it.
—Alan Ashe, CNN, 7 June 2018
David Reamer | Alaska History, Anchorage Daily News, 23 July 2023
But mingling with Robert Mitchum and Lana Turner, cocktail in hand, makes even a rotgut movie a top-shelf experience.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 16 May 2023
Born in 1912 to a Kashmiri family in the northern state of Punjab, Manto fell under the spell of Gorky and Poe, not to mention the rotgut that would kill him at the age of forty-two.
—Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 26 Dec. 2022
During that time, rotgut liquor wasn’t ideal for drinking straight, which made speakeasies get creative, birthing some delicious cocktails that endure to this day.
—Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 14 Nov. 2021
Moonshine that falls into the rotgut category could be dangerous and even deadly for anyone desperate enough to drink it.
—Alan Ashe, CNN, 7 June 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rotgut
Noun
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Down the block La Labo is opening, but also next to us is a bootleg flower shop out of this woman’s home.—
Ryma Chikhoune,
Footwear News,
11 Oct. 2025
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Latu’s pressure off the edge disrupted Smith’s timing on what was supposed to be a play-action bootleg pass, so much so that Smith never actually threw the ball.—
James Boyd,
New York Times,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Raw, sweaty, and steeped in debauchery, the track chronicles a spiral of booze, heartbreak, and nights lost in a haze of resistol fumes, all layered with his signature gritty rap flow.—
Tere Aguilera,
Billboard,
10 Oct. 2025
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America's River Roots Festival is taking over the Ohio River this weekend with boats, music, food and booze.—
Rasputin Todd,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Of course, the bags don’t actually hide anything; in fact, they are reserved specifically for, and definitively signal, the drinking of alcohol.—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
14 Oct. 2025
-
Brian reportedly had 187 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood while being examined after her death.—
Abigail Adams,
PEOPLE,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Special drinks include the Siesta (Altos Blanco, Campari and lime and grapefruit juice); the Basil Daiquiri (rum, St Germain, chartreuse, lime and basil); the Tropical Old Fashioned (Brugal 1888, banana, pineapple, bitters and coconut sugar); and the French 75 (cognac, lemon and champagne).—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
9 Oct. 2025
-
This rum scent is one of their best-sellers—androgynous, herbal, crisp.—
Julia Harrison,
Architectural Digest,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Jones surprised Evans by taking a red-eye flight from Texas to North Carolina to show support.—
Jason Jones,
New York Times,
12 Oct. 2025
-
Trtl Travel Pillow This Trtl travel pillow turned my red-eye flight to Paris into an eight-hour nap.—
Rosie Marder,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
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In his office at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Wheeler kept several jars of brownish-red homemade moonshine that were natural conversation pieces when the talk turned to NASCAR’s roots.—
Scott Fowler,
Charlotte Observer,
21 Aug. 2025
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The downtown distillery and bar uses the original Great Depression-era recipe for its moonshine, but has also expanded to produce vodka, whiskey, sorghum rum, and beer.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
16 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The 100 Years of Summer bourbon winks at the past by packaging the hooch in the same half-pint bottle ol’ Annie used to hide.—
Kristin L. Wolfe,
Forbes.com,
20 Aug. 2025
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Seen swilling hooch in her pajamas and stuffing herself with week-old discarded cake, Dee anticipated the guys' every insult with dead-eyed clarity.—
Dennis Perkins,
EW.com,
10 July 2025
Noun
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Burnett leaned into the character’s drinking habit, hiccupping through Miss Hannigan’s swigs from a bottle of bathtub gin.—
Rachel Syme,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
-
It is known for its refreshing notes of honey and lemon, which balance out the immense spice of bathtub gin.—
Bianca Salonga,
Forbes,
23 Nov. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Rotgut.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rotgut. Accessed 18 Oct. 2025.
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