zoot suit

[ zoot ]

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.

zoot suit

/ 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

Derived Forms

• ˈzoot-ˌsuiter, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of zoot suit¹

1940–45, Americanism; rhyming compound based on suit

Word History and Origins

Origin of zoot suit¹

C20: of uncertain origin; perhaps an arbitrary rhyme on suit

Example Sentences

If the intent of the sailors who took to the streets of L.A. in June 1943 had been to rid the world of zoot suits, their actions were futile.

From Los Angeles Times

Two Black teenagers wearing zoot suits had to seek refuge at the Pasadena police station from marauders.

From Los Angeles Times

And I think the zoot suits from “Malcolm X,” because I studied the zoot suit in great detail in all of my menswear books and I feel like I nailed it.

From Los Angeles Times

Local residents joined the board during the unanimous vote while wearing outfits that resembled the zoot suits favored by many minority youths in Los Angeles in the 1940s.

From Los Angeles Times

For several nights, the servicemen, mostly sailors, went looking for the zoot suiters, and at least once going after a Latino man who was not wearing a zoot suit.

From Los Angeles Times