galoot

or gal·loot

[guh-loot]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR galoot ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Slang.

an awkward, eccentric, or foolish person.

RELATED WORDS

eccentric, fellow, crank, miser, dodo

Nearby words

Origin of galoot

First recorded in 1805–15; origin uncertain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for galoot

The loud, cheerful, "Say, air you the galoot ez wuz swapping lies with Ben Smith day 'fore yestiddy?"
The Storm Centre|Charles Egbert Craddock
I don't propose to make a jumping-jack of myself for some galoot to give me the laugh, but we'll walk around.
The Octopus|Frank Norris
You know where that galoot Hodge is hid, and youll tell, too.
Frank Merriwell's Alarm|Burt L. Standish
Me and Si are goin' back to look for that galoot that shot at us.
Si Klegg, Book 4 (of 6)|John McElroy

Jim was all fixed up, and he says to the galoot, 'Let's have a throw.'
The Crisis, Complete|Winston Churchill

British Dictionary definitions for galoot

galoot

galloot

noun

slang, mainly US a clumsy or uncouth person

Word Origin for galoot

C19: of unknown origin

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

Word Origin and History for galoot

"awkward or boorish man," 1812, nautical, "raw recruit, green hand," apparently originally a sailor's contemptuous word for soldiers or marines, of uncertain origin. "Dictionary of American Slang" proposes galut, Sierra Leone creole form of Spanish galeoto "galley slave."