Meanings
plural tiki bars
- A drinking establishment or restaurant with an exotic tropical theme, serving elaborate cocktails.
The dish was probably invented by Victor Bergeron, best known as the namesake founder of the Trader Vic's chains of tiki bars.
2020, Dan Nosowitz, “What the Heck is Crab Rangoon Anyway?”, in J. Kenji López-Alt, editor, The Best American Food Writing 2020, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 2271 more example
Say you want to escape the doldrums of daily life — but you can't quite afford a trip to Hawaii. Why not to head to your local tiki bar for a sample of the South Seas? These faux-Polynesian, palm-thatched rum palaces that were all the rage in the 1960s are now making a comeback.
, “Let's Talk Tiki Bars: Harmless Fun Or Exploitation?”, in NPR.org
Origin
- Māoritiki“figurine”
- Englishtiki bar
From tiki (“carved talisman”) + bar (“drinking establishment”). From Māori tiki (“figurine”).
More words from Māori
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
tiki bar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tiki%20bar
“tiki bar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tiki%20bar. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tiki bar,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tiki%20bar.
Source: tiki bar on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.