Word.ws English Dictionary

greasy spoon

greasy spoon noun: an inexpensive diner or other informal restaurant, especially one specializing in frying or grilling.

greasy spoon: an inexpensive diner or other informal restaurant, especially one specializing in frying or grilling
Image: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

greasy spoon (plural greasy spoons)

  1. (idiomatic, informal) An inexpensive diner or other informal restaurant, especially one specializing in frying or grilling.
    • We found a good little greasy spoon down a side street.
    • I find that most gay men love to cook for others but would rather visit any greasy spoon than eat by themselves.1985 December 14, Robert Storem, “The Dating Game”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 22, page 6

Forms of greasy spoon

pluralgreasy spoons
alternative form (rare)greasey spoon

Origin of greasy spoon

American English, 1920s.

Questions about greasy spoon

What does greasy spoon mean?
Greasy spoon means an inexpensive diner or other informal restaurant, especially one specializing in frying or grilling.
What part of speech is greasy spoon?
Greasy spoon is a noun.
What is the plural of greasy spoon?
The plural of greasy spoon is greasy spoons.

Words near greasy spoon in the dictionary

  1. greasings
  2. Greasley
  3. greasy
  4. greasy kid's stuff
  5. greasy pole
  6. greasy spoon
  7. greasy spoons
  8. greasyback
  9. greasybacks
  10. great
  11. Great Abington

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: greasy spoon (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-greasy spoon.ogg.

Cite this entry: “greasy spoon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/greasy_spoon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.