tourist trap

noun

: a place that attracts and exploits tourists

Examples of tourist trap in a Sentence

The street market is a tourist trap that mostly sells cheap souvenirs. That hotel is just a tourist trap.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Pawleys Island, South Carolina This slender barrier island about 70 miles northeast of Charleston isn’t a tourist trap, and that’s how locals like it. Lisa Cericola, Southern Living, 11 Mar. 2025 The mix of South Street Seaport tourist traps, happy-hour bars, fast-casual chains, food halls, four-star restaurants, ultra high-end stores, luxury gyms, discount outlets, 19th-century hole-in-the-walls, and, as of this week, a French department store, is, in fact, very much New York. Kim Velsey, Curbed, 7 Mar. 2025 As anyone who has been to the Walk of Fame can tell you, the reality is different from the one in our collective imagination — a relic of a tourist trap on the edge of civilization. E. Alex Jung, Vulture, 18 Feb. 2025 The city’s airport is only 15 miles from the Superdome and the stadium is a walkable distance from the tourist traps of the French Quarter and Bourbon Street. Adam Crafton, The Athletic, 6 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for tourist trap

Word History

First Known Use

1942, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of tourist trap was in 1942

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Cite this Entry

“Tourist trap.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tourist%20trap. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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