What does flout mean?
'Flout' means to openly and deliberately disregard a rule, law, or accepted convention, usually with an air of contempt or defiance. Someone who parks where parking is forbidden, ignores a court order, or mocks long-standing social customs can each be said to flout something. The verb implies conspicuousness: unlike quiet disobedience, flouting makes a display of rejection, treating the norm as unworthy of respect. It is most at home in formal registers, appearing frequently in journalism about governments flouting treaties, companies flouting regulations, or individuals flouting tradition. The word is often confused with 'flaunt', which means to show off ostentatiously — a distinction worth preserving. First recorded in English in the sixteenth century, 'flout' remains a precise and forceful way to describe open, unapologetic defiance of authority.
To openly disregard a rule, law, or convention with contempt or defiance; also, formerly, to mock or jeer at someone.
"Several member states have flouted the agreement without facing any consequences."
The older sense of mocking a person directly has largely given way to the modern sense of disregarding rules and norms.
A mock or expression of disdain (rare, archaic).
"He answered the insult with nothing but a flout and a shrug."
This noun sense is archaic and seldom encountered outside historical texts.
People have been mixing up 'flout' and 'flaunt' for so long that even careful writers fall into the trap — one word breaks the rules, the other shows off.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of flout
The origin of 'flout' is genuinely uncertain, which is unusual for a word so common. It first appears in English in the late sixteenth century, meaning both to mock and to express contempt, and some scholars have suggested it derives from a Middle English verb related to playing the flute, mocking music being a plausible source of its sense of ridicule. Others propose Scandinavian influence. What is certain is that by Shakespeare's time it was established in the sense of open scorn or defiance, and that sense has remained stable ever since.
Related word forms
How flout is actually used
The verb carries a strong connotation of deliberate, open defiance rather than mere oversight — to flout is to disregard something conspicuously. It appears chiefly in formal writing and journalism, most often in legal, political, and social commentary. The noun form 'flout' exists but is rare; the gerund 'flouting' is common in phrases such as 'the flouting of regulations'.
Easily confused with flout
'Flaunt' means to show something off ostentatiously, while 'flout' means to openly disregard a rule or convention.