rotgut

[ rot-guht ]

noun

, Slang.

1. cheap and inferior liquor.

rotgut

/ ˈrɒtˌɡʌt /

noun

1. facetious.
   alcoholic drink, esp spirits, of inferior quality

Word History and Origins

Origin of rotgut¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; rot + gut

Example Sentences

I was sitting at my desk worrying my way through a glass of rotgut whiskey.

From Washington Post

But I prefer to believe that arrack is simply the sound one makes when one chokes down a shot of harsh home-brewed rotgut, and therefore it applies to any ingredients equally well.

From Seattle Times

Seventeenth-century British soldiers, fighting in the Low Countries, showed a sweet tooth for the local rotgut, and the word “gin” derives from jenever, the Dutch for juniper.

From The New Yorker

Not the mummified ones you might find soaking in the bottoms of rotgut mezcal bottles — originally placed there as a marketing scheme to sell cheap liquor — but the ones you order on purpose, as dinner.

From Seattle Times

There will be rotgut whiskey and weary horses.

From New York Times

Related Words

• booze
• drink
• ethanol
• liquor
• methanol
• smoke