flout
/flaʊt/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Canada/flʌʊt/
flout verb: to express contempt for (laws, rules, etc.) by word or action.
Verb
flout (third-person singular simple present flouts, present participle flouting, simple past and past participle flouted)
- To express contempt for (laws, rules, etc.) by word or action.
- The manoeuvres of Microsoft and HP appear to comply with the letter of the regulations, even if they flout their spirit.2012 September 29, “Tax alchemy: Tech's avoidance”, in The Economist
- Of necessity[…] the duty to comply with the rules designed to spare civilians as much as possible the hazards of war is absolute, not contingent on the behavior of opponents. The Israeli government already seems to be flouting those rules.2023 October 11, Kenneth Roth, “The attack on Israel has been called a ‘9/11 moment’. Therein lies a cautionary tale”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
- To scorn.
- Yet all ' s not worth a pin, But could not get her; Phillida flouts me. Dick had her to the Vine1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, […], London: […] T. Maxey for Rich[ard] Marriot, […], →OCLC; reprinted as The...
- Three gaudy standards flout the pale blue sky.1812–1818, Lord Byron, “(please specify |canto=I to IV)”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. , London: John Murray,, stanza 41
Noun
flout (plural flouts)
- The act by which something is flouted; violation of a law.
- A flout is when someone deliberately and ostentatiously contravenes a maxim.2012, John Flowerdew, Discourse in English Language Education, page 97
- A mockery or insult.
flout meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu
flout in Tamil
- உதாசீனப்படித்து
flout in Urdu
- چڑھانا, اہانت کرنا, مضحکہ اڑانا, پگڑی اچھالنا, طعنہ دینا, طنز کرنا
flout in Bengali
- অবজ্ঞা করা, নিয়ম অমান্য করা
flout in Telugu
- to flout, scorn, disregard, treat contemptuously, cry out against
- ధిక్కరించు dhikkariñcu
More languagesFewer languages
- flout in Malayalam
- പുച്ഛിക്കുക, പരിഹസിക്കുക, നിന്ദിക്കുക, അവജ്ഞയോടെ പെരുമാറുക
- flout in Kannada
- ಕಡೆಗಣಿಸು, ಆಳಿಮಾಡು, ಧಿಕ್ಕರಿಸು, ತಿರಸ್ಕರಿಸು
Examples of flout in a sentence
- The scandal-ridden widget manufacturer, Fix-U-Up, was finally brought to trial, accused of flouting safety regulations.
- The scold began to flout and fling.
- Comedy often relies on flouting the norms of Gricean communication.
Synonyms of flout
Forms of flout
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | flouts |
| present participle | flouting |
| past participle | flouted |
| past | flouted |
| Noun | |
| plural | flouts |
Origin of flout
Perhaps from Middle English flouten (“to play the flute”); compare with Dutch fluiten.
Words formed from flout
Words that rhyme with flout
42 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- set about
- shout
- sprout
- doubt
- umlaut
- fill out
- grout
- pout
- devout
- drought
- gout
- nowt
- redoubt
- throughout
- without
- ablaut
- dout
- lout
- mahout
- misdoubt
- mought
- prone out
- strout
- term out
- trout
- zoom out
- 'bout
- anlaut
- aspout
- asprout
- bluff out
- chout
- dought
- knout
- kraut
- layabout
- ne'er cast a clout till May be out
- owt
- peter out
- regrout
- sout
- when in doubt, do nowt
Questions about flout
- What does flout mean?
- Flout means to express contempt for (laws, rules, etc.) by word or action.
- What is flout in Tamil?
- Flout in Tamil is உதாசீனப்படித்து. See Flout meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is flout?
- Flout can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce flout?
- Flout is pronounced /flaʊt/.
- What is the past tense of flout?
- The past tense of flout is flouted.
Words near flout in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: flout (page history and authors); flout (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); flout (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); flout (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ధిక్కరించు (Telugu) (page history and authors); flout (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); flout (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “flout.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/flout. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.