flout
Americanverb (used with object)
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flouts,
present (3rd person singular)
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flouted,
past participle, past
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flouting
present participle
verb (used without object)
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flouts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
flouted,
past participle, past
-
flouting
present participle
noun
verb
Commonly Confused
See flaunt.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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floutsimple
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floutssimple
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have floutedperfect
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has floutedperfect
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am floutingprogressive
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are floutingprogressive
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is floutingprogressive
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have been floutingperfect progressive
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has been floutingperfect progressive
Past
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floutedsimple
-
had floutedperfect
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was floutingprogressive
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were floutingprogressive
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had been floutingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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”
Explanation
To flout is to scorn or show contempt for. "I flout the law and the concept of civilian safety by making a concerted effort to jaywalk every time I cross a street." Oddly enough, when flout came into existence in the 1550s, it had a much different sense to it than it does now; it's believed that it evolved from the Middle English flowten, “to play the flute." These days, the verb flout means "to scorn," as in to scorn a law, person, or social norm by defying it. As a noun, it is a contemptuous remark or insult. Wrote William Shakespeare, “Flout 'em, and scout 'em; and scout 'em and flout 'em; Thought is free.”
Vocabulary lists containing flout
Much Ado About Nothing
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "E" and "F"
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The Tempest
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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:
She believes that if all the signs point to a partner-less destiny anyway, then she may as well flout the dictates of her mother and the marriage mart.
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026
Drivers who flout the rules can be fined $490, according to Caltrans, the body that operates the state's freeways.
From Barron's ● May 13, 2026
Riders who flout rules are warned and sometimes fined, they say, with repeat offenders banned.
From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2026
But never before have so many Iranians been willing to flout the Islamic Republic’s social rules at the same time, say residents and analysts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 27, 2025
And I myself should hold it shame for any girl to flout her own dear parents, taking up with a man, before her marriage.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
It flouts the single most important rule of investing, which is to make sure you are diversified; at least 60% U.S. stocks and 40% international stocks would be better.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 4, 2025
Self-identification as Native American also flouts the sovereign right of tribes to determine rules for citizenship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2025
The second, equally obvious problem with the state’s argument is that it flouts the rules for holding a statute unconstitutional.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2024
She transcends her humble roots, entrances the King and flouts 18th-century Versailles protocol.
From New York Times ● May 2, 2024
Keegan’s problem is that he flouts another principle of coherence in writing, the last one we will visit in this chapter.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
In recent years, however, the company has repeatedly flouted regulators and the legal process.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026
And that even in inherently risky mine environments, human error most often proves to be the fatal factor: management failure, flawed safety systems and flouted protocols.
From BBC ● May 31, 2026
North Korea is subject to multiple United Nations sanctions banning its nuclear weapons development and use of ballistic missile technology, restrictions it has repeatedly flouted.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
Federal immigration officials had once again flouted his authority by keeping a man locked up in a California City detention center after Nunley ordered him released.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 2026
As we shall see, many prescriptive rules originated for screwball reasons, impede clear and graceful prose, and have been flouted by the best writers for centuries.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
But John Mussington, the chairperson of Barbuda Council, the local authority, argues that this "community" was only made possible by flouting the 2007 Land Act.
From BBC ● May 20, 2026
The same could even be extended to Bieber’s set, whose lo-fi flouting of traditional Coachella spectacle seemed to play with that tension directly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2026
The investor visits to company sites are just one of the options SpaceX is weighing, and are in line with Musk’s record for flouting norms in the corporate world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
Conflicts are deliberately being turned into wars against civilians with drones and other technology and countries are flouting international law with impunity, the Red Cross chief said Friday.
From Barron's ● Feb. 13, 2026
Luthuli objected to the flouting of the ANC’s code of conduct, and Professor Matthews expressed dismay about Walter visiting socialist countries.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
