louche
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of louche
1810–20; < French: literally, cross-eyed; Old French losche, feminine of lois < Latin luscus blind in one eye
Explanation
Someone with louche taste is decadent and flashy. It’s one thing to wear gold around your neck as jewelry, but louche to have all your teeth capped in the precious metal just for the heck of it. Louche is an adjective that describes something “of questionable taste or morality" but is also kind of attractive. It comes from the French louche, which also means “squinting,” and that word comes from the Latin lusca, meaning “one-eyed.” Imagine a louche pirate with an eye patch that you just can't turn away from. It's pronounced like a little kid trying to say "loose," like "loosh." You can also use louche in place of words like decadent, shady, and sinister.
Vocabulary lists containing louche
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
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English Words Derived from French, List 11
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Notes of a Native Son
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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.
Scheming Corvette is Palmer’s newest marvelously louche heroine.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
By 2014, she says, “the abstemious, incorruptible leader had become a louche, boorish one.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
Thin slices of toasted pound cake work surprisingly well, and feel a little louche in a good way.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2025
Lawrence Osborne does a very good, louche take on being an English expat in Asian locales.
From New York Times ● Jan. 18, 2024
"Young Mr. Richie Gardiner seemed louche" she observed after a silence which Warren seemed willing indefinitely to prolong.
From The Heart of Rachael by Norris, Kathleen Thompson
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.
