moonshine
noun
moon·shine ˈmün-ˌshīn 
1
: moonlight
2
: empty talk : nonsense
3
: intoxicating liquor
especially : illegally distilled corn whiskey
Synonyms
- bootleg
- mountain dew
- white lightning
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Everything they said was just a load of moonshine. during Prohibition, moonshine and “bathtub gin” were made secretly
Recent Examples on the Web Widely considered the Irish equivalent of American moonshine, Poteen is an unaged spirit that can be produced from any fermentable substance. 
Joseph V Micallef, Forbes, 1 Aug. 2022 Todd also had several flavors of moonshine that tasted scarily good, very much like fruit juice. Paul Daugherty, The Enquirer, 31 May 2022 Go moonshine and wine sampling at the many stops along the Gatlinburg strip. Andrea Reeves, The Enquirer, 1 June 2022 His novels too are set in a lawless South, their characters so surreal and disturbed they could be found only in dead-end towns marked by dirt roads and moonshine. Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2022 Bourbon is new to this generation of distillers, but the Neeleys have been making moonshine in Eastern Kentucky for 11-generations but only the most recent two have been legal. Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, 6 June 2022 The best way to describe it is as the Irish version of moonshine. Joseph V Micallef, Forbes, 19 May 2022 Jeni’s previously experimented with other savory flavors, including Parmesan and zucchini bread, and young Gouda with moonshine cranberries. Katie Deighton, WSJ, 8 May 2022 In America, where the most popular racing events feature the stock cars that were born of moonshine runners, the opposite usually obtains. Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 17 Mar. 2022 See More
Joseph V Micallef, Forbes, 1 Aug. 2022 Todd also had several flavors of moonshine that tasted scarily good, very much like fruit juice. Paul Daugherty, The Enquirer, 31 May 2022 Go moonshine and wine sampling at the many stops along the Gatlinburg strip. Andrea Reeves, The Enquirer, 1 June 2022 His novels too are set in a lawless South, their characters so surreal and disturbed they could be found only in dead-end towns marked by dirt roads and moonshine. Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2022 Bourbon is new to this generation of distillers, but the Neeleys have been making moonshine in Eastern Kentucky for 11-generations but only the most recent two have been legal. Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, 6 June 2022 The best way to describe it is as the Irish version of moonshine. Joseph V Micallef, Forbes, 19 May 2022 Jeni’s previously experimented with other savory flavors, including Parmesan and zucchini bread, and young Gouda with moonshine cranberries. Katie Deighton, WSJ, 8 May 2022 In America, where the most popular racing events feature the stock cars that were born of moonshine runners, the opposite usually obtains. Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 17 Mar. 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
moonshine
noun
moon·shine ˈmün-ˌshīn
1
: moonlight
2
: alcoholic liquor produced illegally
moonshine
noun
1
as in alcohol
illegally produced liquor during Prohibition, moonshine and "bathtub gin" were made secretly Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- alcohol
- booze
- bootleg
- rum
- mountain dew
- rotgut
- drink
- white lightning
- spirits
- hooch
- firewater
- grog
- juice
- tipple
- bathtub gin
- strong drink
- potable
- red-eye
- ardent spirits
- John Barleycorn
2
as in liquor
a distilled beverage that can make a person drunk serving all sorts of moonshine at the bar Synonyms & Similar Words
- liquor
- alcohol
- booze
- drink
- rum
- bottle
- whiskey
- spirits
- hooch
- beer
- wine
- vodka
- firewater
- juice
- grog
- brandy
- tipple
- ale
- tequila
- intoxicant
- potable
- sauce
- stimulant
- whisky
- gin
- aqua vitae
- strong drink
- inebriant
- lush
- ardent spirits
- cocktail
- chaser
- sake
- mead
- brew
- pop
- load
- snort
- belt
- mescal
- schnapps
- slug
- liqueur
- John Barleycorn
- digestif
- aperitif
- snifter
- nightcap
- bracer
- shooter
- shot
- mixed drink
- tot
- nip
- mum
- peg
- brewage
- microbrew
- whet
- brewski
- malt liquor
- home brew
- nappy
- saki
- barley-broo
- barley-bree
- mao-tai
- Dutch courage
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- nonintoxicant
3
as in garbage
language, behavior, or ideas that are absurd and contrary to good sense a book about the so-called good old days that's sentimental moonshine Synonyms & Similar Words
- garbage
- nuts
- nonsense
- stupidity
- rubbish
- bunk
- drool
- silliness
- jazz
- beans
- muck
- trash
- fudge
- balderdash
- hokum
- crock
- fiddle
- blah
- bull
- blatherskite
- foolishness
- humbuggery
- folderol
- baloney
- applesauce
- bunkum
- flapdoodle
- punk
- horsefeathers
- madness
- insanity
- fiddlesticks
- malarkey
- craziness
- blarney
- hogwash
- boloney
- blither
- piffle
- trumpery
- tommyrot
- bilge
- twaddle
- buncombe
- guff
- rot
- poppycock
- tosh
- blather
- hoodoo
- claptrap
- falderal
- slush
- hooey
- absurdity
- malarky
- drivel
- codswallop
- gas
- fiddle-faddle
- humbug
- flannel
- folly
- greek
- taradiddle
- crapola
- tarradiddle
- hokeypokey
- bosh
- senselessness
- foolery
- tomfoolery
- nerts
- idiocy
- blah-blah
- lunacy
- absurdness
- inanity
- imbecility
- fatuity
- inaneness
- kookiness
- monkey business
- witlessness
- hot air
- monkeyshine(s)
- asininity
- rigmarole
- shenanigan(s)
- rigamarole
- hocus-pocus
- hoity-toity
- double-talk
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- rationality
- sensibleness
- reasonableness
- sense
- horse sense
- wisdom
- reasonability
- levelheadedness
- judgment
- judgement
- discernment
- common sense
- surviews
- survigrous
- survivabilities
- survivability
- survivable
- survival
- survival instinct
- survival kit
- survival mechanism
- survival of actions
- survival of the fittest
- survival value
- survivalism
- survivalisms
- survivalist
- survivalists
- survivals
- survivance
- survivances
- survivant
- survive
- survived
- surviver
- survivers
- survives