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
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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:
Dachshunds strut in ‘Sausage Walk’ during Paris fashion week.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
“Breezy,” one of just a handful of truly catchy tunes on the set, has an easy strut that channels the twinkle of the LP “Diamonds and Pearls.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
We studied the choreography, mimicking his strut to the ballroom stage, the hip swivels, the disco arm roll as he sings about getting Brad and Janet a satanic mechanic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
Every four years the world's best attacking players strut their stuff as their nations try to win football's ultimate prize.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
The other end he slings through a bent strut wedged into the congestion of timber, stone, and plaster that has become their ceiling.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
While the popular girls strutted through the halls with their effortless Pinterest-inspired updos, I was applying brown eyeshadow to my scalp to disguise the sparse spots.
From Slate ● May 23, 2026
The MacArthur “genius grant” winner sparkled with sartorial edge as he strutted across the stage in a white tuxedo shirt to discuss his book “Emperor of Gladness.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
After “Michael” finished, Patterson and other attendees strutted and twirled while the credits rolled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
The squad emerged from the coach wearing re-released replica away shirts from the 'Entertainers' era, when the Magpies strutted into stadiums up and down the country.
From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2026
And so it went, the frog cheerfully insisting to all in the meadow that it was a princess-in-waiting, until one day, a real princess strutted into the meadow, proud and vain.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
“And then there’s some funny stuff too,” Dan explained, strutting around the store, with a sense of importance.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
“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
If you can imagine the strutting Nicolas Cage and lithe Laura Dern of David Lynch’s “Wild at Heart” but with an apartment and a kid, that’s them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026
"Yeah you," he goes, and he's doing his hippity walk, strutting along, he's got these fancy cool cowboy boots with metal toes.
From "Freak The Mighty" by Rodman Philbrick
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
