What does flouting mean?
Flouting means openly and deliberately ignoring or defying a rule, law, custom, or expectation, usually with an air of contempt. Unlike accidental non-compliance, flouting signals that the offender knows the rule exists and chooses to disregard it anyway, often publicly. The word appears frequently in journalism and legal commentary — governments flout international treaties, companies flout safety regulations, celebrities flout convention — precisely because the defiance is conspicuous. Its connotation is almost always negative, implying arrogance or disrespect for shared standards. The verb also retains a rarer, older sense: to mock or treat someone with open scorn. A long-standing pitfall is confusion with its sound-alike 'flaunt', which means to display something ostentatiously; the two are regularly interchanged even by experienced writers. Knowing the difference — defying rules versus showing off possessions — marks a careful user of English, which makes 'flouting' both practically useful and quietly diagnostic.
To openly disregard or show contempt for a rule, law, convention, or authority.
"Drivers who park across two spaces are flouting parking regulations."
Implies deliberate, public defiance rather than accidental breach.
To mock, ridicule, or treat someone or something with open scorn (an older, now less common sense).
"In the play, the courtiers flout the old knight's pretensions."
This literary sense survives mainly in classic texts such as Shakespeare's works.
For centuries, even educated writers mixed up 'flout' and 'flaunt' — so if you've confused them, you're in very good company.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of flouting
The verb 'flout' first appeared in English in the sixteenth century, meaning to mock or express contempt. Its precise origin is uncertain, though scholars have suggested a possible connection to Middle Dutch or Scandinavian words involving mockery or trickery; no cognate lineage can be stated with confidence. Over time the mocking sense narrowed into the modern dominant meaning of openly disregarding rules or conventions, a shift already visible by the seventeenth century.
Related word forms
How flouting is actually used
The verb 'flout' implies deliberate, open defiance rather than accidental violation — someone who breaks a rule in secret violates it, while someone who does so brazenly flouts it. The word carries a strongly negative connotation and is most common in legal, journalistic, and formal commentary. The older mocking sense ('to flout someone') survives mainly in literary contexts; today the rule-disregarding sense dominates almost entirely.
Easily confused with flouting
'Flout' means to openly defy or show contempt for rules, while 'flaunt' means to show something off ostentatiously — 'flouting the dress code' versus 'flaunting her wealth.'