speakeasy

English

Etymology

Deverbal from speak easy (= speak quietly [interj.]); for the history, see Wikipedia at speakeasy § Etymology.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

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Noun

speakeasy (plural speakeasies or speakeasys)

1. (historical) An illegal saloon or tavern, especially one operated during the American Prohibition period in the 1920s.

   Synonyms: blind pig, blind tiger

   • 1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 90:

     Many of the legitimate nightclubs of today sprang like legalized phoenixes from the still-hot ashes of the speakeasies of prohibition days.

   • 2020, David Rosen, Prohibition New York City, Arcadia Publishing, →ISBN, page 39:

     Retuning^[sic] to Gotham, he came to intimately know Manhattan's speakeasy scene. “At a speakeasy,” Hirschfeld acknowledged, “you had to be known to get in...each place had its own clientele.” Membership cards, really fake IDs, were common.

Usage notes

• The term conveys connotations of a classy establishment—in which some require a coat and tie—compared with a more downmarket blind pig or blind tiger.

Derived terms

• smokeasy

Translations

illegal saloon operated during the Prohibition period

• Bulgarian: контрабандна кръчма (kontrabandna krǎčma)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 美國非法地下酒吧／美国非法地下酒吧 (Měiguó fēifǎ dìxià jiǔbā)

• Danish: smugkro (da) c
• Finnish: salakapakka (fi)
• Japanese: スピークイージー (supīkuījī)
• Swedish: lönnkrog (sv)

Further reading

• speakeasy on Wikipedia.Wikipedia