hoot
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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hoots,
present (3rd person singular)
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hooted,
past participle, past
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hooting
present participle
verb (used with object)
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hoots,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hooted,
past participle, past
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hooting
present participle
noun
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hoots
plural
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the cry of an owl.
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any similar sound, as an inarticulate shout.
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a cry or shout, especially of disapproval or derision.
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British. a horn, siren, or whistle, especially a factory whistle.
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Informal. the least bit of concern, interest, or thought; trifle.
His religion doesn't matter a hoot to me.
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Slang. an extremely funny person, situation, or event.
Your cousin is such a hoot!
idioms
interjection
noun
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the mournful wavering cry of some owls
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a similar sound, such as that of a train whistle
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a jeer of derision
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informal an amusing person or thing
the weekend was a hoot
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not to care at all
verb
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(often foll by at) to jeer or yell (something) contemptuously (at someone)
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(tr) to drive (political speakers, actors on stage, etc) off or away by hooting
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(intr) to make a hoot
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(intr) to blow a horn
interjection
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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hootsimple
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hootssimple
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have hootedperfect
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has hootedperfect
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am hootingprogressive
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are hootingprogressive
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is hootingprogressive
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have been hootingperfect progressive
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has been hootingperfect progressive
Past
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hootedsimple
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had hootedperfect
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was hootingprogressive
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were hootingprogressive
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had been hootingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hoot1
First recorded in 1200–1250; Middle English verb houten, whoten; imitative of the sound
Origin of hoot2
First recorded in 1600–10; hoot 1 ( def. ) (in the sense “shout of disapproval or derision”)
Explanation
A hoot is the musical call an owl makes. The hoot of an owl sounds very much like the word hoot. An owl's hoot is the inspiration for a similar sound that people make to show disapproval or scorn: "The sound of the crowd's hoots filled the stadium when the soccer player kicked the ball into his own team's goal." To make this sound, whether you're a person or an owl, is to hoot, and if you don't give a hoot, it means you really don't care at all.
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:
While throwing, the chimpanzees pant hoot — a loud, long-distance communicative signal — and sometimes repeatedly hit their hands and feet on the tree in a behavior called buttress drumming.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026
Former talk-show host Winfrey wrote that one of her fondest memories with Parton was "having a hoot and a holler while wearing Bob Mackie gowns on her show Dolly".
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
His singing of Oscar Straus and Leo Robin’s “Oh, That Mitzi” is a hoot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026
Elton’s motivations don’t make sense, but at least Cera barges into the movie with so much energy that his sequence is a hoot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2025
Great-great-aunt Florentine would hoot over Mr. Johnson’s obituaries.
From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
The depictions of Ruth’s uptight and stingy brother Hyacinth and jealous and mother-in-law from hell “old Mrs. Hall” are both hoots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026
The audience in Dallas — the city where the comedian began her stand-up career and later set her self-titled network sitcom — hoots and hollers in response.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2025
But us football fans must recognize that not everyone hoots and hollers for the conversion on a long third down or a legendary pick six.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2025
Mr Watling told BBC Essex that Mr Farage "doesn't give two hoots" about the constituency, which also includes the seaside towns of Frinton and Walton, and villages inland including St Osyth, Tendring and Wix.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2024
Seizing a horn from a youngster near by, he blew three loud hoots.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
A barred owl hooted and shook its feathers in a sycamore above the creek, and red-bellied cooters sunned themselves on half-submerged logs.
From Slate ● Apr. 27, 2026
The freshly revamped, DJ-driven lounge in downtown’s historic core filled out with loft-dwelling locals still getting mileage from their Halloween costumes, while incoming Dodger fans hooted and revved their engines out on Main Street.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2025
The viewers clapped when Chris Tucker appeared onscreen, and they hooted for Viola Davis.
From New York Times ● Apr. 7, 2023
A speeding motorist hooted frantically to warn traders on the sides of the road to move away.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 19, 2023
She leaned back in the chair as she hooted with laughter.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
Pant hooting and buttress drumming are both part of the male chimpanzee display, suggesting that accumulative stone throwing might represent a modification of this common behavior.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026
A crowd came out waving blue and yellow national flags, cheering as the buses carrying the freed men passed hooting their horns.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2025
Millions of folks sat down with Williams every day for more than 14 years, hooting and hissing as she spilled the tea as if she were in their living rooms with them.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2024
“We hoped only to see Flaco hooting wildly from the top of our local water tower, never in the clinic,” the World Bird Fund wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 23, 2024
This afternoon, a block from school, a gang of kids were yelling and hooting near a stop sign.
From "Crash" by Jerry Spinelli
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.
