cop-out

[kop-out]

noun

Informal.

1. an act or instance of copping out; reneging; evasion.

   The governor's platform was a cop-out.

2. a person who cops out.

   Everyone helped as they had promised, except for one cop-out.

cop out

verb

1. (intr, adverb) to fail to assume responsibility or to commit oneself

noun

1. an instance of avoiding responsibility or commitment

2. a person who acts in this way

Word History and Origins

Origin of cop out¹

First recorded in 1940–45; noun use of verb phrase cop out

Word History and Origins

Origin of cop out¹

C20: probably from _cop ¹

Idioms and Phrases

Back out of a responsibility or commitment; also, take the easy way out. For example, Don't count on him; he's been known to fake illness and cop out, or She'll cop out and let her assistant do all the work. These meanings are derived from the underworld slang use of cop out for backing down or surrendering. [Late 1950s]

When To Use

What does cop-out mean?

Cop-out is a slang term for the act or an instance of backing out of a situation or commitment or avoiding responsibility for something.When you take the easy way out to avoid doing something challenging or making a difficult choice, that’s a cop-out. An excuse can be called a cop-out.The term is sometimes spelled without a hyphen (cop out) or as one word (copout).The verb cop out (without a hyphen) means to back out or avoid something in this way, especially something you’ve committed to doing. Similar terms are flake and flake out. When used as a verb, cop out is usually followed by a preposition (typically on or of) and the thing being avoided or backed out of, as in You just knew he was going to cop out on us again with some lame excuse. Less commonly, cop-out can refer to a person who has copped out or who is known for copping out.Both the noun and verb senses of the word are used negatively to criticize people who cop out.Example: His response to the question is a total cop-out—he’s just afraid to answer it directly.