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:
"But the kid inside of you wants to break out and just hoot and holler."
From Barron's ● Apr. 4, 2026
Seeing each stride into frame is a hoot.
From Salon ● Nov. 6, 2025
As Dorothy pleads for the Wizard not to fly away without her, we’re distracted by hundreds of waving extras who visibly don’t give a hoot what happens to the girl.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2025
But if you keep skating, at some point you’ll meet another woman who skates, and then another, and pretty soon you and your “high vibe tribe” won’t give a hoot what anyone thinks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2025
The nights at Mobius have an eeriness about them, a soundless, otherworldly beauty, interrupted only by a chance howl or hoot in the distance.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
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
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
Rod hoots with laughter: "You deserve it, my man. I'm going to give you a round of applause."
From BBC ● Mar. 1, 2024
All week I’d reveled in the cackles of leaf monkeys, hoots of gibbons, and barks of macaques, plus choruses of birds and frogs—all backed by the hums and whines of insects.
From National Geographic ● Jan. 23, 2024
Later that afternoon, The Goober wandered to the assembly hall, attracted by cheers and hoots.
From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier
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
While the rest of the class hooted and hollered, I watched your expressions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2024
The crowd in New Hampshire cheered wildly as Trump came onstage and hooted warmly at some of his standard campaign lines.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 17, 2024
The viewers clapped when Chris Tucker appeared onscreen, and they hooted for Viola Davis.
From New York Times ● Apr. 7, 2023
Madame Semele hooted and hugged herself, swaying back and forth, bony fingers clutching her sides.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
The 20-something fan seated next to me felt the same way about Araki, hooting so much for his favorite filmmaker that he apologized.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2026
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
He spends his nights hooting atop water towers and preying on the city’s abundant rats.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 1, 2024
For one day a year the hustle and bustle of London's Whitehall - gawking tourists, chanting protestors and hooting taxis - is swept away and in its place a very different slice of Britain descends.
From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2023
Why wasn’t I joining the mob and hooting with the rest of them?
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.
