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honkytonk

honkytonk

1 9.8
A cheap bar or dance hall where people dance to country music
  • noun
  • /ˈhɔŋkiˌtɔŋk/
  • US
translation icon : bar de country
  • After a long week, he enjoyed unwinding at the neighborhood honkytonk with friends.

Examples

  • We could play in some honkytonks, maybe make some money... just to get ourselves to California.

  • You have to promise me you won't go in that honkytonk, you hear? -

  • Throw your arms around this honkytonk man

  • Uncle Red was playing in honkytonks by the time he was my age.

  • This whole honkytonk fairyland.

  • Well, this whole little honkytonk was lifted up onto a flatbed truck and brought over and set down on a new slab right here in the trees at the edge of the Youth Center grounds.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Just honkytonks and flophouses.

  • "Owner Ron Reynolds believes the city is making up reasons to shut down his honkytonk and is using overly aggressive police patrols to do it," CBS DFW reports.

    Blog text (13)
  • On Friday nights, we love to dance at the local honkytonk and enjoy live country music.

  • The honkytonk in town is famous for its lively atmosphere and great karaoke nights.

Synonyms

saloon
vshonkytonk
75 5.8

A place where people drink alcohol and talk

is a cheap country music and dancing venue rather than a simple drinking place
dive
vshonkytonk
  • Slang
34 7.9

A cheap, shabby bar with low prices

has a clear country music and dancing focus rather than being just shabby
honky-tonk
vshonkytonk
  • US
8 9.4

A cheap bar with country music where people dance

is the modern unhyphenated spelling for the same idea
juke
vshonkytonk
  • Informal
7 9.9

A small roadside bar where people eat, drink, and dance to a jukebox

has an explicit country music and dance hall character rather than roadside jukebox focus
doggery
vshonkytonk
  • Archaic
9.9

A cheap run-down bar where people drink and smoke

is the modern common name for that type of country music venue
gutbucket
vshonkytonk
  • Archaic
9.9

A small cheap bar where rough blues or jazz is played

centers on country music and dancing rather than blues or jazz
jook joint
vshonkytonk
  • Archaic
9.9

A small lively place in the southern United States where people eat, drink, and dance to music

focuses on country music dancing rather than regional jukebox entertainment
juke house
vshonkytonk
  • Informal
9.8

A small informal place where people eat, drink, and dance to jukebox music

is aimed at country music and live dancing rather than jukebox settings

Antonyms

palais
  • Archaic
1 9.1

A large elegant place for dancing and music

How Cheap

dive
  • Slang
34 7.9
honkytonk
  • US
1 9.8
pub
  • UK
155 1.0
tavern
111 3.5
lounge
214 2.3

Surface Forms

honkytonk singular
honkytonks plural

Etymology

Honkytonk probably comes from two parts, honky and tonk. One popular idea says tonk copies the 'tonk' sound of a cheap piano and honky was a word for ordinary people, so a honkytonk became a rough, cheap bar with country music and dancing.