zoot suit

American  

[zoot] / zut /

noun

1. a man's suit with baggy, tight-cuffed, sometimes high-waisted trousers and an oversized jacket with exaggeratedly broad, padded shoulders and wide lapels, often worn with suspenders and a long watch chain and first popularized in the early 1940s.

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zoot suit British  

/ zuːt /

noun

1. slang a man's suit consisting of baggy trousers with very tapered bottoms and a long jacket with wide padded shoulders, popular esp in the US in the 1940s

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Other Word Forms

• zoot-suiter noun

Etymology

Origin of zoot suit

1940–45, rhyming compound based on suit

Example Sentences

Elsewhere, we check in on how a freshly liberated Mitch McConnell is putting on his zoot suit and spats and living it up a little.

From Slate • Apr. 27, 2024

But he says that a certain flamboyance redolent of the drape suit — and, by extension, the zoot suit — lingered.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 13, 2023

Within the zoot suit, you’ll find a uniquely American story of style.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 13, 2023

The zoot suit was likely more an evolution than a wholesale invention.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 13, 2023

Here I am in my zoot suit, thinking how country everybody looks compared to me.

From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz