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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Her source material is a pair of cassette tapes recorded by Dueñez in the ’90s, two of a series of bootlegs that the sonidero and his wife sold at the flea market along the Puente del Papa, a bridge connecting Monterrey’s prosperous city center with its mountainside slums.—
Philip Sherburne,
Pitchfork,
7 Jan. 2026
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After getting gouged repeatedly by bootleg play-action passes, screens and space plays over their first two series, the Pats struck back with a short-yardage stop and forced fumble on the next two series.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
6 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The cocktail menu includes four non-alcoholic drinks, including a booze-free Old Fashioned and a margarita.—
Sarah Blaskovich,
Dallas Morning News,
8 Jan. 2026
-
The Bohemian waxwing even takes its name from its notorious penchant for booze.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The goal here is to convert the organic compound n-butanol into 1,4 butanediol, a bivalent alcohol and important raw material for plastics.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Jan. 2026
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The driver of the truck, a 40-year-old man, was not hurt and will be subject to drug and alcohol testing, which police say is standard procedure.—
Sam Gillette,
PEOPLE,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Another rum-forward favorite worth seeking out at El Bembé is the white marble cocktail, made with white Don Q rum, crème de cacao, St-Germain liqueur, and clarified Greek yogurt.—
Amber Kallor,
Travel + Leisure,
10 Jan. 2026
-
Bacardi now owns a majority stake, controlling Teeling along with its eponymous rum brand, Angel’s Envy, Patron, and Dewar’s.—
Jonah Flicker,
Robb Report,
5 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Pair it with a calming playlist and deep breaths, and even a red-eye can feel restorative.—
Alesandra Dubin,
Travel + Leisure,
9 Jan. 2026
-
Was the ensemble designed for frequent fliers on the red-eye?—
Air Mail,
Air Mail,
3 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Fans in southern Ohio and northern Kentucky haven’t been this excited since the invention of moonshine.—
Kevin Cusick,
Twin Cities,
5 Dec. 2025
-
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
Noun
-
There’s the time the pair got ass drunk off hooch in the deep South at the kind of Geechie establishment that plays ZZ Hill, Johnny Taylor, and Clarence Carter records.—
Keith Murphy,
VIBE.com,
12 Dec. 2025
-
Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson’s Cherry Lager If two actors who co-starred in an old TV series don’t slap their names on some hooch, did the show even exist?—
Evan Allgood,
New Yorker,
20 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
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 12 Jan. 2026.
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