bordello

noun

bor·​del·​lo bȯr-ˈde-(ˌ)lō 

plural bordellos

: a business establishment where sex workers are available for hire : brothel

Port Townsend was a bawdy seaport in the late 19th century, its saloons and bordellos packed with rowdy sailors whose ships docked here to clear customs before sailing into Puget Sound.

—Sharon Boorstin

Synonyms

• bagnio
• bawdy house
• brothel
• cathouse
• disorderly house
• sporting house
• stew
• whorehouse

Examples of bordello in a Sentence

the cabdriver offered to show me where he claimed the most infamous bordello in town used to be

Recent Examples on the Web

Some Russians set up a bordello down in the industrial area, and everybody knew about it. —Ben Taub, The New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2024

The Red Garter Inn The Red Garter Inn is a bed and breakfast in a 100-year-old Victorian Romanesque building that formerly housed a saloon and bordello. —Michael Salerno, The Arizona Republic, 5 Sep. 2024

To get a taste, stay at the Red Garter Inn, a former saloon and bordello built in 1897. —Stefanie Waldek, Travel + Leisure, 17 June 2024

Louis is no longer a white Louisiana plantation owner discovered by Lestat in the 1790s, but a Black New Orleans bordello owner in the 1910s. —Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune, 13 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

Italian, from Old French bordel, from borde hut, of Germanic origin; akin to Old English bord board

First Known Use

1593, in the meaning defined above