honky-tonk

Meanings

1. A bar or nightclub that caters to Southern patrons and provides country music for entertainment.
2. Any cheap nightclub.
3. The type of music typically played in such a club.
4. A style of country music emphasizing traditional country instruments (e.g., guitar, steel guitar and fiddle); a rough, nasal vocal style; and tragic themes such as heartbreak, infidelity and alcoholism often associated with patrons of honky-tonks.

1. Of a sound, having a timbre or tone that is tinny or nasal, said especially of a honky-tonk piano.

Etymology

Unknown.