shout-out

noun

ˈshau̇t-ˌau̇t 

variants or less commonly shoutout

plural shout-outs also shoutouts

informal

: a public expression of greeting, praise, or acknowledgment directed toward a person or group often as part of a performance, recording, or broadcast

She opened her acceptance speech with a shout-out to James Baldwin, the author of the book on which the movie was based, calling him "one of the greatest artists of our time."

—Neal Justin

Here are a few lyrical shout-outs to some of hip hop's favorite designers.

—Scott Poulson-Bryant

She even gave a shoutout to one of her former teachers on Twitter, and encouraged others to do the same.

—Emily Sweeney

Examples of shout-out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Mayer, 48, was one of Karp's groomsmen, and the musician couldn't let his friend's wedding day go by without giving him a shout-out. —Ashlyn Robinette, PEOPLE, 10 Apr. 2026

But after the first year or so, the joking self-awareness had been replaced by earnest reviews of products sent gratis to the girls by skincare brands hoping for shout-outs. —Literary Hub, 9 Apr. 2026

Ocasio-Cortez even gave DeGette a shout-out for her support of the policy during a big rally in Denver last year with Sanders. —Elliott Wenzler, Denver Post, 9 Apr. 2026

Additional programming matters to sports media partners as evidenced by the shout-out the project received from Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley at his pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday. —Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

originally African American English, noun derivative of shout out "to give recognition to, publicly acknowledge"

Note: The popularization of shout-out has been attributed to the Black DJ and music video producer Ralph McDaniels, who co-hosted the program Video Music Box on the New York City public television station WNYC from 1984 to 1996.

First Known Use

1990, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for shout-out

• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout

Kids Definition

shout–out

noun

variants also shoutout

ˈshau̇t-ˌau̇t 

informal

: a public expression of greeting, praise, or acknowledgment directed toward a person or group often as part of a performance, broadcast, or recording