lout
1 Americannoun
-
louts
plural
verb (used with object)
verb (used with or without object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of lout1
First recorded in 1540–50; perhaps special use of lout 2
Origin of lout2
1250–1300; Middle English louten, Old English lūtan; cognate with Old Norse lūta; akin to little
Explanation
A lout is a clumsy, awkward oaf. If you want to insult the person who just stepped on your toes and belched, say, "Watch where you're going, you lout!" Lout originally meant a bumbling, awkward fellow, both annoying and pitiful. But if you call someone a lout today, you're also implying that he's not only stupid and clumsy, but that he's no good. Lout is almost never used for women, because the word has an implication of being bad to women — not abusive so much as selfish. If everyone thinks your boyfriend is a lowdown, disgusting lout, you might want to try dating someone else.
Vocabulary lists containing lout
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"Easter, 1916" by W.B. Yeats
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"The Odyssey" by Homer (Part One)
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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.
See Examples For:
And though “Tony” doesn’t entirely lack that heady romanticization, its choice to amplify its introductory quote — making Bourdain an even more insufferable lout for dramatic effect — feels antithetical to Bourdain’s raw candor.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
At light speed, the action zips to Siberia, where it momentarily bogs down in an extended dance-off between a bald and shirtless Russian lout and Sonic and Tails.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 5, 2022
Hawke took this foul-tempered lout and turned him into the not-so-better half of a tough but surprisingly tender love story.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 4, 2019
Mick enters as a lout on the prowl, but we quickly come to see him as a tortured romantic — and a highly skilled chef.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 6, 2018
“So inappropriate,” the black-leather lout sighed, turning suddenly fey.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
Like yours, there were good moments and bad, great bosses and real louts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2020
Failing to find beauty in these carnival customs, louts of the old school primarily celebrate their own freedom from consequences.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 4, 2018
A 2010 Vanity Fair reminiscence by James Verini wrote: “They call Ames and Taibbi, singly or in combination, children, louts, misogynists, madmen, pigs, hypocrites, anarchists, fascists, racists, and fiends.”
From Washington Post ● Dec. 15, 2017
But Neanderthals weren’t the slow-witted louts we’ve imagined them to be — not just a bunch of Neanderthals.
From New York Times ● Jan. 11, 2017
“And to be absolutely sure, I’m leaving one of my bodyguards behind. Which of you louts volunteers for the duty?”
From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer
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.
