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

Diamond Street, for instance, was one of the original players in the zoot suit riots in 1942.

From The Daily Beast