strut

¹

[struht]

verb (used without object)

strutted, strutting 

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

   Synonyms: flourish, parade

noun

1. the act of strutting.

2. a strutting walk or gait.

strut

²

[struht]

noun

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

verb (used with object)

strutted, strutting 

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

strut

/ strʌt /

verb

1. (intr) to walk in a pompous manner; swagger

2. (tr) to support or provide with struts

3. informal,  to behave or perform in a proud and confident manner; show off

noun

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

2. an affected, proud, or stiff walk

Other Word Forms

• strutting adjective
• strutter noun
• struttingly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of strut¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English strouten “to protrude stiffly, swell, bluster,” Old English strūtian “to struggle,” derivative of unattested strūt (whence Middle English strut “strife”)

Origin of strut²

First recorded in 1565–75; obscurely akin to strut ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of strut¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

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

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

This is the sort of anti-bully cosplay I’ve come to see often in recent months: Kids I know strutting around with their chests puffed out like roosters, imitating a neighborhood bully who insults immigrants.

Read more on Salon

Last weekend in London's Soho Square he strutted against two dozen other men - and some women with drawn-on moustaches - in a catwalk contest to find the city's best "performative male".

Read more on BBC

On top of that, it’s famously set at a perfect strutting pace.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Penn makes him strut like he’s got a flagpole up his rear.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“From his hair, to his sputter, to his strut, Penn makes a clown show out of hypocritical ultraconservative piety,” says Amy Nicholson.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• prance 
• sashay 
• stalk 
• stride 
• swagger