rotgut.

Cheap or inferior alcoholic liquor, described dismissively rather than by a particular recipe.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• rotgut whiskey
• a bottle of rotgut
• drink rotgut

On the page

The bottle held rotgut, not the fine brandy its label promised.

Usage notes

Primary category: horror / gothic literary. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Commonness: uncommon (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: Direct dictionary reading: cheap/inferior liquor. A useful disparaging character-voice term, not a chemical poison diagnosis. Attributive uses seen, but a broader independent adjective meaning is not inferred from one automatic movie example. Individually reviewed for a precise writer function, not selected merely for rarity. Original definitions/examples; commonness editorial, not a corpus statistic. Genre suitability does not establish inherent fear or emotional intensity. Writing functions: disparaging poor liquor, character voice about a doubtful bottle.