strutting

[struht-ing]

See more synonyms for strutting on Thesaurus.com

adjective

walking or moving with a strut; walking pompously; pompous.

Origin of strutting

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at strut¹, -ing²

Related formsstrut·ting·ly, adverb

strut

[struht]

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

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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.

strut

[struht]

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. 2018

Related Words for strutting

sashay, swagger, stalk, prance, stride, swank, parade, sweep, mince, grandstand, flaunt, flounce, peacock

Examples from the Web for strutting

Contemporary Examples of strutting

From Anna Wintour to Rita Ora to Claire Danes, stars are strutting their stuff in red this season.
Scarlet Is the New Black
Raquel Laneri
August 31, 2014
Paul, strutting across the stage with a wireless microphone and wearing blue jeans, hit almost every other note.
Rand Paul’s Bizarre Bowe Bergdahl Joke
Ben Jacobs
June 6, 2014
When Rita Ora relieved Zac Efron of his shirt at the MTV Movie Awards, his apparent surprise shifted quickly to strutting.
Zac Efron’s Eyes Are Up Here, Ladies
Tim Teeman
April 15, 2014
And maybe that video of George W. Bush strutting around on an aircraft carrier in his flight suit.
Want To Know What America Thinks of Itself? Watch Jack Ryan on Wall Street
Andrew Romano
January 18, 2014
There he found a street full of young kids he recognized, their hoodies up, strutting round a burning car.
A Tinderbox Waiting for a Match
Gavin Knight
August 11, 2011

Historical Examples of strutting

One of the duties of these strutting heroes was to maintain silence.
A Literary History of the English People
Jean Jules Jusserand
Manager Strutt, and Manager Butt, were strutting and butting each other.
Real Life In London, Volumes I. and II.
Pierce Egan
See, the inspector is strutting just below us in the smithy.
The Innocence of Father Brown
G. K. Chesterton
My vanity did not express itself in strutting or wagging the head.
The Promised Land
Mary Antin
He has a kind of strutting dignity, and is tall by walking on tiptoe.
The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. in Nine Volumes
Samuel Johnson

British Dictionary definitions for strutting

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 strutting

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.)).