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bootlegger

bootlegger

11 8.6
A person who makes and sells alcohol illegally, often during Prohibition
  • noun
  • /ˈbuːtˌlɛɡər/
  • US
translation icon : contrabandista
  • The movie depicted a notorious bootlegger who smuggled whiskey across state lines during the 1920s.
  • bootlegger during Prohibition
  • bootleggers, mobsters
  • bootleggers and crime

And so you have a Baptist enforced cartel that provides wealth for the bootleggers, happiness for the Baptist.

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Examples

  • The owner, that Rocco, in prohibition, he was one of the biggest bootleggers there was.

    This Could Be the Night (1957)

  • I know a couple of bootleggers in Oklahoma who'd like to have this.

    Boom Town (1940)

  • Well, I got them from a bootlegger.

    In Country (1989)

  • Is he still a bootlegger?

    Footlight Parade (1933)

  • "Only the best," said the chief. "Joe Kennedy is our bootlegger."

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Buster French, her father, was now a bootlegger and fence.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Another interesting personal detail: his father was a bootlegger in the U.S. during prohibition.

    Blog text (4)

  • My father was a bootlegger; that's how he could afford to become respectable.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • They are bootleggers running illegal hooch at night.

    Bloodrunners (2017)

  • By the early 1920s, an uneasy equilibrium between Socialist prohibitionists and bootleggers had been established.

    Academic text (2002)

Synonyms

dealer
vsbootlegger
  • NSFW
384 6.5

A person who buys and sells illegal goods like drugs and stolen items

is narrower to illegal alcohol production and distribution rather than drug trade
smuggler
vsbootlegger
  • NSFW
89 3.8

A person who secretly moves goods across borders to avoid paying tax

focuses on making or selling alcohol locally rather than border smuggling
trafficker
vsbootlegger
  • NSFW
62 8.0

A person who illegally buys and sells goods or people

is specific to illegal alcohol trade rather than general dishonest commerce
moonshiner
vsbootlegger
  • NSFW
3 9.8

A person who makes or sells alcohol secretly without government permission

is broader, covering making, distributing, or selling alcohol beyond secret production
rumrunner
vsbootlegger
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A person who secretly brings alcohol into a country to avoid the law

focuses more on production and local selling than cross border transport
black marketeer
vsbootlegger
  • NSFW
1 7.5

A person who secretly sells scarce or controlled goods for money

focuses on alcohol illegal trade broadly rather than scarce controlled items
moonshine distiller
vsbootlegger
  • NSFW
9.1

A person who secretly makes illegal alcohol

is wider, including distribution and sales as well as production
moon curser
vsbootlegger
  • NSFW
9.9

A person who secretly brings goods into or out of a country to avoid paying taxes

is centred on illegal alcohol production and distribution rather than importing or exporting

Antonyms

law-abiding
63 3.4

Following the law and not breaking rules

How Legal

smuggler
  • NSFW
89 3.8
black marketeer
  • NSFW
1 7.5
bootlegger
  • US
11 8.6
seller
257 1.0

Surface Forms

bootlegger singular
bootleggers plural

Morphology

bootlegger = bootleg (semi-transparent) = boot + leg + er

The relation from 'bootleg' to 'bootlegger' is a regular agentive derivation using '-er' and is clear to learners who know 'bootleg'.

Etymology

Bootlegger comes from a time when people hid bottles in their boot or the lower leg, so 'boot-leg' meant a hidden place for smuggled goods. During Prohibition in the United States a bootlegger was someone who made or sold alcohol illegally.