moonshine
Americannoun
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Informal. smuggled or illicitly distilled liquor, especially corn liquor as illicitly distilled chiefly in rural areas of the southern U.S.
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empty or foolish talk, ideas, etc.; nonsense.
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the light of the moon; moonlight.
noun
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another word for moonlight
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illegally distilled or smuggled whisky or other spirit
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foolish talk or thought
Etymology
Origin of moonshine
1375–1425; late Middle English: moonlight. See moon, shine 1,
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In math, Ono is known for his work on a range of topics across number theory, from Ramanujan’s congruences to the umbral moonshine conjecture.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025
As she sings in "American Requiem" against reverberating acoustic guitar and piercing vocals, she is the "grandbaby of a moonshine man" in Gadsden, Alabama.
From Salon • Mar. 29, 2024
In addition to setting up a season-long whodunit around the singer’s death by poisoned moonshine, Pinnock says those flashbacks gave her a visceral understanding of her flamboyant character, who lived for the applause from spectators.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2023
The letters showed that Navalny asked for an eclectic range of items, including, variously, a bottle of moonshine, a balalaika, a staff, two pouches of cheap tobacco, a kimono and a black belt.
From Reuters • Jun. 2, 2023
Their eyes so intent on the wayward stranger who trips into their net, they were blind to the cobalt on their own backs, the moonshine fighting to pierce their comers.
From "Sula" by Toni Morrison
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
