What does loogie mean?
Loogie is an informal North American noun for mucus, phlegm, or spit, especially when it is coughed up or spat out. The word is characteristically blunt and slightly humorous rather than delicate, and it may convey disgust or mild contempt as well as simply identify the substance. It is especially common in casual speech, comedy, and descriptive writing, while phlegm is the usual formal or medical alternative. A loogie can be treated as a countable lump, as when someone refers to “a loogie,” although the word is also used with a mass sense, like mucus or spit. Its deliberately unglamorous sound gives ordinary or unpleasant material a comic quality, but in serious medical or clinical contexts, loogie would generally be inappropriate.
nounMucus or phlegm that is coughed up or spat out; more broadly, a lump of expectorated saliva.
- A mass of mucus or phlegm that is coughed up or spat out.
"He wiped the loogie from the corner of his mouth."
"He spat a loogie into a tissue and threw it away."
"The unpleasant sound came from the loogie stuck in his throat."
The standard plural is used when individual lumps of mucus or spit are counted.
"He wiped several loogies from the table."
Loogie gives a characteristically American, slightly comic sound to an unmistakably unglamorous subject.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does loogie come from?
Loogie is a chiefly American English word whose precise origin is uncertain. It developed as an informal term for mucus or expectorated saliva and became established in everyday speech during the 19th century.
How loogie is actually used
Informal and chiefly North American. It is blunt, mildly comic, and often carries a disgusted or disparaging tone; the more formal word is phlegm.
Easily confused with loogie
Phlegm is the formal, clinical term for mucus, whereas loogie is an informal word for mucus or saliva that has been coughed up or spat out.