pout

¹ American  

[pout] / paʊt /

verb (used without object)

1. to thrust out the lips, especially in displeasure or sullenness.

2. to look or be sullen; sulk; mope.

   Synonyms:

   scowl, glower, brood

3. to swell out or protrude, as lips.

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verb (used with object)

1. to protrude (the lips).

2. to utter with a pout.

noun

1. the act of pouting; a protrusion of the lips.

2. a fit of sullenness.

   to be in a pout.

pout ² American  

[pout] / paʊt /

noun

plural

pout,

plural

pouts

1. horned pout.

2. ocean pout.

3. a northern marine food fish, Trisopterus luscus.

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pout ¹ British  

/ paʊt /

verb

1. to thrust out (the lips), as when sullen, or (of the lips) to be thrust out

2. (intr) to swell out; protrude

3. (tr) to utter with a pout

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noun

1. (sometimes the pouts) a fit of sullenness

2. the act or state of pouting

pout ² British  

/ paʊt /

noun

1. short for horned pout eelpout

2. any of various gadoid food fishes, esp the bib (also called whiting pout )

3. any of certain other stout-bodied fishes

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Usage

What does pout mean? To pout is to act in a gloomy and irritated way; to mope or sulk.Children sometimes pout when they don’t get their way, often by sitting with their arms crossed and a specific look on their face: a kind of frown with the lips pushed out (sometimes just the bottom lip). This expression is also called a pout. The term is typically used in the context of young children, but it can be applied to adults in some situations.Example: My toddler pouts when he doesn’t get his way, but I guess it’s better than throwing a tantrum.

Other Word Forms

• poutful adjective
• poutingly adverb
• pouty adjective
• unpouting adjective
• unpoutingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of pout¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English pouten; probably from Old Norse; compare Swedish dialect puta “to be inflated,” Norwegian (noun) “pute ”

Origin of pout²

First recorded before 1000; Old English -pūta, in ǣlepūta “eelpout” (not recorded in Middle English ); akin to Low German pūtāl and aalputte “eelpout,” Dutch puit “frog”

Example Sentences

“Just some little chit of a girl,” Pearl pouted, “and she has nothing to do with me.”

From Literature

His moustache wiggled as he worked his mouth almost to a pout.

From Literature

Brie hands him a napkin, but he shoves it back at her and pouts.

From Literature

They looked like pouting kids on the playground—not the CEOs of OpenAI and Anthropic, two of the hottest names in the AI scene.

From The Wall Street Journal

Sam was right; pouting over my lot in life wasn’t going to change anything.

From Literature

Related Words

• mope
• sulk