back-alley

[ bak-al-ee ]

adjective

1. dirty, unprepossessing, sordid, or clandestine:

   back-alley morals; back-alley political schemes.

Word History and Origins

Origin of back-alley¹

An Americanism dating back to 1860–65

Idioms and Phrases

see under back street .

Example Sentences

In Coralie Fargeat’s blood-soaked fable about fear and self-loathing in Hollywood, Moore plays Elisabeth Sparkle, a faded star who submits to a back-alley rejuvenation regime to reset her career.

From Los Angeles Times

Mine, currently, is a back-alley trail that winds through Eagle Rock’s rec center, through the hills and onto the Occidental College campus.

From Los Angeles Times

Recalling women, including a cousin, who risked back-alley abortions in her native Mexico, Banuet moved from Compton to Arizona earlier this year to try to make a difference in a battleground state where the last presidential campaign was decided by 0.3% of the vote.

From Los Angeles Times

She’s on the wrong side of 50, has been fired from her retro-style exercise show and is so desperate that she’s considering submitting to a back-alley rejuvenation regime.

From Los Angeles Times

A legendary MI6 operative, she’d served as a field agent for more than twenty-five years, and rumor had it the missing finger and limp were the results of a back-alley knife fight in Bangkok.

From Literature

Related Words

• avenue
• boulevard
• court
• highway
• lane
• pavement
• place
• road
• roadway
• route
• thoroughfare
• track
• trail