Word Study
honky-tonk
CIDE DICTIONARY
honky-tonk, n.
- a cheap drinking and dancing establishment; a cheap and tawdry nightclub. [WordNet 1.5]
- A district in which honky-tonks{1} are found. [PJC]
honky-tonk, a.
- Pertaining to or resembling a honky-tonk. [PJC]
- Pertaining to a style of ragtime piano music having a melody embellished with chords and syncopated rhythms, accompanied by a bass in strict two-four or four-four time. It is often played on an upright piano having its strings muffled to produce a tinny sound; as, a honky-tonk piano. [PJC]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
honky-tonk, n. colloq.
1 ragtime piano music.
2 a cheap or disreputable nightclub, dancehall, etc.
1 ragtime piano music.
2 a cheap or disreputable nightclub, dancehall, etc.
Etymology
20th c.: orig. unkn.
For further exploring for "honky-tonk" in Webster Dictionary Online