n. A cheap, noisy bar or dance hall. adj. 1. Of or relating to such a bar or dance hall; tawdry: a honky-tonk district; honky-tonk entertainers. 2. Of, relating to, or being a type of ragtime characteristically played on a tinny-sounding piano or in a honky-tonk. intr.v. hon·ky-tonked, hon·ky-tonk·ing, hon·ky-tonks To visit cheap, noisy bars or dance halls. [Perhaps from HONK.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.