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Lout belongs to a large group of words that we use to indicate a particular sort of offensive and insensitive person, that group also including such terms as boor, oaf, jerk, and churl. We've used lout in this way since the mid-1500s. As early as the 800s, however, lout functioned as a verb with the meaning "to bow in respect." No one is quite sure how—or even if—the verb sense developed into a noun meaning "a brutish person." The noun could have been coined independently, but if its source was the verb, perhaps the awkward posture of one bowing down led over the centuries to the idea that the bowing person was base and awkward as well.
Examples of lout in a Sentence
Scott Tobias, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2025
And when someone does cross the line, like the louts who doused cops in Harlem and Brownsville with water in 2019, most officers have shown remarkable restraint.
—Leonard Greene, New York Daily News, 4 Feb. 2024
That’s the memorable insult that James Kennedy (the DJ of the group) hurled at Tom Sandoval (the resident lout) last season after Sandoval — who had a girlfriend — became romantically involved with Kennedy’s ex-girlfriend.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2024
What if Rocky Balboa were an arrogant lout?
—Kyle Smith, WSJ, 2 Mar. 2023
See All Example Sentences for lout
Cite this Entry
“Lout.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lout. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
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