strut

[struht]

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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.

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)

Related formsstrut·ter, noun

Synonyms for strut

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR strut ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

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

Related Words for strutter

know-it-all, egotist, windbag, boaster, blowhard, brag, bragger, swashbuckler, exhibitionist, blatherskite, braggadocio, peacock, show-off, gasbag, trumpeter, raver, grandstander, hotshot, ranter, bigmouth

Examples from the Web for strutter

Historical Examples of strutter

Of course Peter said he did, and that was sufficient excuse for Strutter to show off.
The Burgess Bird Book for Children
Thornton W. Burgess
There's a big, mossy, hollow log over yonder, and I remember that Mrs. Grouse once told me that that is Strutter's thunder log.
The Burgess Bird Book for Children
Thornton W. Burgess
In the most stately way you can imagine Strutter walked the length of that mossy log.
The Burgess Bird Book for Children
Thornton W. Burgess

British Dictionary definitions for strutter

strut

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 Formsstrutter, 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

Word Origin and History for strutter

strut

"walk in a vain, important manner," Old English strutian "to stand out stiffly," from Proto-Germanic *strut- (cf. Danish strutte, German strotzen "to be puffed up, be swelled," German Strauß "fight"), from PIE root *ster- "strong, firm, stiff, rigid" (see sterile). Originally of the air or the attitude; modern sense, focused on the walk, first recorded 1510s. Cognate with Old English ðrutung "anger, arrogance" (see throat). To strut (one's) stuff is black slang, first recorded 1926, from strut as the name of a dance popular from c.1900.

strut

"supporting brace," 1580s, perhaps from strut (v.), or a cognate word in Old Norse or Low German (cf. Low German strutt "rigid"); ultimately from Proto-Germanic *strutoz-, from root *strut- (see strut (v.)).