flout

[ flout ]

/ flaʊt /

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See synonyms for: flout / flouted / flouting / flouter on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to treat with disdain, scorn, or contempt; scoff at; mock: to flout the rules of propriety.

verb (used without object)

to show disdain, scorn, or contempt; scoff, mock, or gibe (often followed by at).

noun

a disdainful, scornful, or contemptuous remark or act; insult; gibe.

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QUIZ YOURSELF ON "IS" VS. "ARE"

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IS and ARE are both forms of which verb?

have

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Origin of flout

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English flouten “to play the flute” (see flute); compare Dutch fluiten “to play the flute, talk smoothly, soothe, blandish, impose upon, jeer”

words often confused with flout

See flaunt.

OTHER WORDS FROM flout

flouter, nounflout·ing·ly, adverbun·flout·ed, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH flout

flaunt, flout (see confusables note at flaunt)

Words nearby flout

flourishing, flour mill, flour mite, flour moth, floury, flout, flow, flowage, flowback, flow breccia, flow chart

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use flout in a sentence

It was a big story—indicating that Israel was continuing to flout international law to prevent Hezbollah from getting weapons.
How the Syrian War Subreddit Scoops Mainstream Media|Nina Strochlic|November 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Republicans could flout their own resentments and true believers.
Democrats Need to Stop Attacking Obama’s Budget and Wake Up to Reality|Robert Shrum|April 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST
How do you openly flout a landmark Supreme Court ruling and not suffer any consequences?
Supreme Court Outlawed Executing Mentally Retarded, But Texas Does It Anyway|David R. Dow|August 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
He chose the country and let Alice flout contemporary morals, carousing and smoking in public.
Kate Upton’s Congressman Uncle and More Scandalous Political Ties|Ben Jacobs|February 15, 2012|DAILY BEAST

A pardon would flout the principle that even the president is not above the law.
Will Bush Pardon Himself?|Kenneth Roth|January 18, 2009|DAILY BEAST
It is one of the oldest institutions of the country, which even we upon our hundred acres would not have dared to flout.
Thirty Years in Australia|Ada Cambridge
We English, once upon a time, did especially flout the little nation then acting a history that proved worth the writing.
Ceres' Runaway|Alice Meynell
Couldn't afford to offend Railway Directors, yet wouldn't do to flout numerous body of working-men, chiefly voters.
Punch, Or The London Charivari, Vol. 100., Jan. 31, 1891|Various
Very easy it is for you, who have the impudence to flout kings, to talk thus to one who is frightened of strangers.
The Court Jester|Cornelia Baker
Is it a safe thing, think you, Sir Count, to jest with a princess in her own land and then come back to flout her for it?
Joan of the Sword Hand|S(amuel) R(utherford) Crockett

British Dictionary definitions for flout

flout

/ (flaʊt) /

verb

(when intr, usually foll by at) to show contempt (for); scoff or jeer (at)

Derived forms of flout

flouter, nounfloutingly, adverb

Word Origin for flout

C16: perhaps from Middle English flouten to play the flute, from Old French flauter compare Dutch fluiten; see flute

undefined flout

See flaunt

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

flout

Origin of flout

words often confused with flout

OTHER WORDS FROM flout

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH flout

Words nearby flout

Words related to flout

How to use flout in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for flout

Derived forms of flout

Word Origin for flout

undefined flout