louche

[loosh]

adjective

dubious; shady; disreputable.

Origin of louche

1810–20; < French: literally, cross-eyed; Old French losche, feminine of lois < Latin luscus blind in one eye

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for louche

Contemporary Examples of louche

From this louche improbable source pours music of sublime beauty without one false note.
Why Can’t Movies Capture Genius?
Clive Irving
December 14, 2014
Both vaporiums I visited included areas to hang out it, like the louche opium dens of old.
This Is Your E-Cigarette on Drugs
Daniel Genis
July 28, 2014
Akkari and Laban had long been disaffected with life in Denmark, a country they saw as louche and irreligious.
The Repentant Radical
Michael Moynihan
September 17, 2013
His louche take on style calls to mind the aftermath of a night spent clubbing or a pre-dawn, hung-over, walk of shame.
Amy Winehouse’s Broken Beauty
Robin Givhan
July 26, 2011
Eventually, this short, louche novel that began with warmth and zest and cheekiness, wanders around aimlessly in magenta caftans.
Gloria Vanderbilt Gets Kinky
Megan Hustad
June 23, 2009

Historical Examples of louche

M. de Montrond talks of returning to Louche to put his poor body in a bath.
Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino v.1/3, 1831-1835
Dorothy Duchesse de Dino

British Dictionary definitions for louche

louche

adjective

shifty or disreputable

Word Origin for louche

C19: from French, literally: squinting

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 louche

adj.

"dubious, disreputable," 1819, from French louche "squinting," from Old French lousche, lois (12c.) "cross-eyed, squint-eyed, lop-sided," from Latin lusca, fem. of luscus "one-eyed," of unknown origin.