Standard Lemma guide

bookie

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Australian, General-American, New-Zealand, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈbʊki/
  • British, Southern, Standard: /ˈbɵkɪj/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Northern-Ireland, Scotland: /ˈbʉke/
  • Northern-Ireland, Scotland: /-kɪ/
  • Northern-Ireland, Scotland: /-ki/
  • rhymes with -ʊki
  • CMU ARPABET: B UH1 K IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A bookmaker, being a person who, or business which, takes bets from the general public on sporting events and similar.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Diminutive of book.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: diminutive, form-of, rare

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a gambler who accepts and pays off bets (especially on horse races)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bookmaker

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: gambler

History

Etymology

Clipping of bookmaker + -ie.

From book + -ie.