tout
Americanverb (used without object)
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touts,
present (3rd person singular)
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touted,
past participle, past
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touting
present participle
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to persistently solicit business, employment, votes, or the like.
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Horse Racing. to act as a tout.
verb (used with object)
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touts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
touted,
past participle, past
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touting
present participle
-
to persistently solicit support for.
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to describe or advertise boastfully; publicize or promote; praise extravagantly.
a highly touted nightclub.
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Horse Racing.
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to provide information on (a horse) running in a particular race, especially for a fee.
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to spy on (a horse in training) in order to gain information for the purpose of betting.
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to watch; spy on.
noun
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touts
plural
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a person who persistently solicits business, employment, support, or the like.
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Horse Racing.
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a person who gives information on a horse, especially for a fee.
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Chiefly British. a person who spies on a horse in training for the purpose of betting.
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British. a ticket scalper.
verb
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to solicit (business, customers, etc) or hawk (merchandise), esp in a brazen way
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(intr)
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to spy on racehorses being trained in order to obtain information for betting purposes
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to sell, or attempt to sell, such information or to take bets, esp in public places
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informal (tr) to recommend flatteringly or excessively
noun
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a person who spies on racehorses so as to obtain betting information to sell
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a person who sells information obtained by such spying
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a person who solicits business in a brazen way
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Also called: ticket tout. a person who sells tickets unofficially for a heavily booked sporting event, concert, etc, at greatly inflated prices
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a police informer
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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toutsimple
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toutssimple
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have toutedperfect
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has toutedperfect
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am toutingprogressive
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are toutingprogressive
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is toutingprogressive
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have been toutingperfect progressive
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has been toutingperfect progressive
Past
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toutedsimple
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had toutedperfect
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was toutingprogressive
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were toutingprogressive
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had been toutingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tout
First recorded in 1350–1400; from Middle English tuten “to look out, peer”; probably akin to Old English tōtian “to peep out”
Explanation
To tout means to praise, boast, or brag about. If you like to tout your skill as a skier, you tell people you can go down expert-level hills. Sometimes parents will get into bragging wars about their children, each touting the accomplishments of his or her child. Sometimes the word means more of "to claim." The company touted the lotion as a solution to wrinkles. Broccoli has been touted as the cancer-fighting vegetable. In England, a tout is a person who gives advice about gambling. If you're looking to play some money on the ponies, go see the tout who hangs out at Jackie’s bar for a tip.
Vocabulary lists containing tout
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This Week In Words: April 12–18, 2020
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He used Tuesday's speech to tout his achievements, and claim the mantle of a peacemaker, at the same time as he issued a number of pointed threats.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
Some critics think apocalyptic language amounts to a sick form of marketing from A.I. insiders who want to tout their models’ power to investors.
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
If airport security and passport lines got you down this summer, now’s the time to look into those fast passes your frequent-flying friends smugly tout.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Yet at a recent gathering in Sacramento, those in the nascent industry continued to tout the potential of a fuel they hope will turn around and thrive.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
Brother Quang remembers Father often said tuyett sut, the Vietnamese way to pronounce the French phrase tout de suite meaning right away.
From "Inside Out and Back Again" by Thanhha Lai
The government touts the initiative as a significant "investment in Rwanda's future", slated for sometime in the early 2030s.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
Raye has hit back at ticket touts who she says "overwhelmed" the sign-up process for an upcoming live show by using AI bots to create "hundreds of thousands of fake registrations".
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
Traditional elements of both bachata and música mexicana appear, as the duo touts their luxurious lifestyles over a lisping guiro and a rousing trumpet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
The brand touts its simple ingredients, targeting busy consumers who want to serve up healthier food in minutes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
All the touts set hard to work to solve what was called the Starkey Lodge Puzzle; Winsley and the hamlets round were frequented by inquisitive men whose pockets were bulging with sheaves of telegraph forms.
From The Vanity Girl by Compton MacKenzie
The Dolphins’ defense was up to the task against Hamilton’s highly touted quarterback Thaddeus Breaux, intercepting two of his passes and sacking him four times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
But a study in the Journal of Advertising Research last year found that people were willing to spend more money on products advertised by “petfluencers” on social media than products touted by humans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
At the event, Microsoft touted its Surface laptop, which runs on Nvidia systems and shows how the company is seeking to capitalize on AI beyond just software and the cloud.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
When a cruise ship passenger contracted the rare hantavirus in May, accounts also immediately touted ivermectin as a "cure" even while there is no known treatment.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
“Garrison Griswold was a fraud! He touted a deep love and respect for literature, but did you know he once used a first-edition Dashiell Hammett as a coaster? A coaster!”
From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
Despite a tumultuous week, she projected calm, touting her close relationship with President Trump and expressing confidence in her press team.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
About 15% of Americans followed an intermittent-fasting diet last year, thanks in part to a push from biohackers and health influencers confidently touting it as the key to effortless weight loss.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
And Schnur, the former GOP political consultant, said the wide lead allows Raman to spend more time touting her own credentials instead of disparaging Bass.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
This would all be pretty underwhelming were it not for the ticketing issues instigated by the club's touting crackdown that has annoyed so many in the fanbase.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Uncle Pete had been touting these books for a long time, not to mention quoting from them liberally to score points in Sunday debates.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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