lout

¹

[ lout ]

noun

1. an awkward, stupid person; clumsy, ill-mannered boor; oaf.

verb (used with object)

1. to flout; treat with contempt; scorn.

lout

²

[ lout ]

verb (used with or without object)

1. to bend, stoop, or bow, especially in respect or courtesy.

lout

¹

/ laʊt /

noun

1. a crude or oafish person; boor

lout

²

/ laʊt /

verb

1. archaic.
   intr to bow or stoop

Word History and Origins

Origin of lout¹

First recorded in 1540–50; perhaps special use of lout ²

Origin of lout²

1250–1300; Middle English louten, Old English lūtan; cognate with Old Norse lūta; akin to little

Word History and Origins

Origin of lout¹

C16: perhaps from lout ²

Origin of lout²

Old English lūtan; related to Old Norse lūta

Example Sentences

"It's possible that their lout of a client insisted that the lawyers waste their meeting with general grievances about prosecutorial misconduct that already have been rejected by the courts," tweeted former U.S.

From Salon

He’s a lout, he’s a slob, he’s a mess — and he is enormously fine company on the page.

From New York Times

His name is Neil Gibson, in homage, one assumes, to the cyberpunk writers Neil Stephenson and William Gibson, even though he’s a lout and, to the best of my knowledge, Stephenson and Gibson are not.

From New York Times

She despises what’s happening to her country, and she deplores some Russian soldiers who are drunks and louts.

From New York Times

The most arresting is Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan, a heavy-drinking lout with legendarily twisted and peaked eyebrows, whose ineptitude as a military commanderdid not impede his rise to the presidency of Pakistan.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• brute
• buffoon
• bumpkin
• slob