strut
1 Americanverb (used without object)
noun
-
the act of strutting.
-
a strutting walk or gait.
idioms
noun
verb (used with object)
verb
-
(intr) to walk in a pompous manner; swagger
-
(tr) to support or provide with struts
-
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
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
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
Explanation
When you strut, you walk with a proud swagger that has a little arrogance thrown in, like the prance of a running back who has just flown past the 250-pound linebackers and planted the ball in the end zone. You can't strut and be shy about it — when you strut, you know people are watching you. The big boss in a gangster film, a model on the runway, and the rap artist whose album has just gone platinum all know how to strut. The noun form of strut has a little less flash and refers to a vertical or horizontal support that holds something up, like the long steel bars holding up a building.
Vocabulary lists containing strut
Touching Spirit Bear
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Hot to Trot: Animal Ambulation
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Stargirl
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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:
Whether or not you agree, “Power Surge” makes for a dense but rewarding narrative with its cast of CEOs and filmmakers who strut across—and occasionally fall off—the stage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
"The driver came back to his car eventually and he opened the engine bay up and the snake was sat on the right-hand side above the strut spring."
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
Each human model and their shorter android companion took turns to strut their stuff in unison on stage.
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
Sometimes the movement makes a point—in the final dance, paired-off chorus members happily strut between the two reluctant lovers, who haven’t yet managed to hold hands, suggesting the fragility of their union.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
We strut through the JCPenney as though we’re the most dangerous things around.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
Yet Polyakov determinedly strutted around for reporters and masked any discomfort with a grin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
Mike Papantonio strutted on a raised stage, his own face a hundred times larger than life on the screen behind him.
From Slate ● Jan. 13, 2026
When the ceremony began, Petri walked out to the song “I’ll Be There” by the Jackson 5, while Williams strutted out to “Ovunque Sarai” by Irama.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 29, 2025
They veiled the stage in gauze on “Copy of A,” casting dozens of Reznor shadows while he strutted and howled about a despondent, depersonalized modernity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2025
He strutted into the living room, as proud as a peacock.
From "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke
“All day, all the time, as if they’re players fretting and strutting on some invisible stage.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
New Yorkers can’t get enough of the strutting woodcock.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 9, 2026
Noem was the public face of that disapproval, strutting forward with arrogance in the face of public censure, a veritable clown show of ineptitude.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026
On the strutting, guitar-driven Somebody To You, she waves goodbye to a suffocating relationship and asks: "Who am I when I'm out of your sight?"
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2025
As he admired the belt, strutting in front of the broken mirror, the sparrow spoke in a normal voice.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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.
