Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. US) seedy, sordid, run down, mediocre.

1924		O.O. McIntyre New York Day by Day 6 Nov. [synd. col.] It was what lifted Gilda from honky tonk mediocrity to fame.
1933		Hecht & Fowler Great Magoo 25: That little headache of yours with the honky-tonk eyes is trouble – plenty.
1942		The Will Bradley Trio ‘Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar’ 🎵 In a little honky-tonky village in Texas / There’s a guy who plays the best piano by far.
1952		Lait & Mortimer USA Confidential 209: Cow Town is Western and honkytonk.
1967		J. Rechy Numbers (1968) 54: Johnny would walk across the bridge to the honky-tonk stretch of the pier.
1972		(con. 1950s) D. Goines Whoreson 104: That’s more than that honkytonk bitch you got is doing for you, yellow ass nigger.
1989		B. Black ‘Honkytonk Asshole’ in G. Logsdon Whorehouse Bells Were Ringing (1995) 276: Honkytonk asshole, I’m talking to you, / I’ve told you and told you, but there’s no getting through; / You’re bad for business, you bother and bore, / Honkytonk asshole, git yer ass out the door.
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 25: On Joe barked beneath the neon stars and honkytonk moon.
2008		T. Dorsey Atomic Lobster 140: The bonfire was surrounded by a circle of [...] honky-tonky domestic sports cars.