speakeasy means An illegal saloon or tavern, especially one operated during the American Prohibition period in the 1920s. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 75 out of 100.
Why this word is great
SPEAKEASY — [Noun] An illicit establishment, especially a bar or nightclub, that sold alcoholic beverages during the Prohibition era in the United States. Deverbal from the phrase 'speak easy', a whispered admonition to speak quietly or cautiously, so as not to attract the attention of law enforcement. Unlike a “tavern”—a legal, licensed establishment lacking criminal frisson—or a “saloon”—an open, public bar of unapologetic grandeur—the speakeasy was defined by its necessary conspiracy. It was the password murmured at an unmarked door, the clink of a glass hastily muffled by a napkin, and the muffled jazz straining through a basement grate—a clandestine democracy where the act of communal pleasure became a quiet revolt, proving that the human appetite for communion is ultimately ungovernable.
noun
- An illegal saloon or tavern, especially one operated during the American Prohibition period in the 1920s.“Many of the legitimate nightclubs of today sprang like legalized phoenixes from the still-hot ashes of the speakeasies of prohibition days.”