strut

[ struht ]

/ strʌt /

|||

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR strut ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), strut·ted, strut·ting.

to walk with a vain, pompous bearing, as with head erect and chest thrown out, as if expecting to impress observers.

noun

the act of strutting.

a strutting walk or gait.

Nearby words

strung, strung out, strung up, strung-out, strunt, strut, strut one's stuff, struthers, struthious, strutting, struve

Idioms

strut one's stuff, to dress, behave, perform, etc., one's best in order to impress others; show off.

Origin of strut

before 1000; Middle English strouten to protrude stiffly, swell, bluster, Old English strūtian to struggle, derivative of *strūt (whence Middle English strut strife)

SYNONYMS FOR strut

1 parade, flourish. Strut and swagger refer especially to carriage in walking. Strut implies swelling pride or pompousness; to strut is to walk with a stiff, pompous, seemingly affected or self-conscious gait: A turkey struts about the barnyard. Swagger implies a domineering, sometimes jaunty, superiority or challenge, and a self-important manner: to swagger down the street.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR strut ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

strut·ter, noun

Definition for strut (2 of 2)

strut

[ struht ]

/ strʌt /

noun

any of various structural members, as in trusses, primarily intended to resist longitudinal compression.

verb (used with object), strut·ted, strut·ting.

to brace or support by means of a strut or struts.

Origin of strut

First recorded in 1565–75; obscurely akin to strut¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for strut

Her curves found a way to strut through baggy denim in Nights in Rodanthe.
Is Diane Lane Too Sexy for Hillary?|Anna Brand|July 29, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The kids hold what they call a “ramp walk,” a mock fashion show where we all dress up and strut on a makeshift stage.
Hysteria Strikes Mumbai School Kids|Dilip D’Souza|March 29, 2013|DAILY BEAST
On television, real housewives, basketball wives, and assorted other caricatures all strut forth baring cleavage.
Helen Gurley Brown’s Fashion Sense: the Power of Cleavage|Robin Givhan|August 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Be prepared: It will be tough Watching Gingrich strut his stuff Stay tuned to hear him bloviate On narrow win in his home state.
The Song of Newt Gingrich: From Longshot To Hotshot To No Shot||April 26, 2012|DAILY BEAST

At just past noon, The Roots emerge from their den and strut into the Fallon studio.
A Day in the Life of The Roots' Questlove|Marlow Stern|December 9, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Though, purse-proud with your riches, you strut along, yet fortune does not alter your birth.
The Works of Horace|Horace
They may safely be left to strut about their uneasy hour and be forgotten.
In Our First Year of the War|Woodrow Wilson
Clothed in scarlet and gold, he descended the hill with the true Albanian strut.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine -- Volume 57, No. 351, January 1845|Various
The strut seemed to press in against his chest; he could not breathe.
Gold in the Sky|Alan Edward Nourse
Of all uncouth figures, that strut their little hour upon the stage of life, a China-man is surely the most grotesque animal.
Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat|Edmund Roberts

British Dictionary definitions for strut

strut

/ (strʌt) /

verb struts, strutting or strutted

(intr) to walk in a pompous manner; swagger

(tr) to support or provide with struts

strut one's stuff informal to behave or perform in a proud and confident manner; show off

noun

a structural member used mainly in compression, esp as part of a framework

an affected, proud, or stiff walk

Derived Forms

strutter, nounstrutting, adjectivestruttingly, adverb

Word Origin for strut

C14 strouten (in the sense: swell, stand out; C16: to walk stiffly), from Old English strūtian to stand stiffly; related to Low German strutt stiff

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