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strut

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strut¹

  • /stɹʌt/ UK
  • [stɹɐt] UK
  • [stɹʊ̈t] UK
  • /stɹʌt/ US
  • /stɹət/ US
  • /stɹʌt/
  • [stɹʌt]
  • [stɹɐt]
  • /stɹʊt/ Northern England

Rhymes with -ʌt

Where it comes from

The verb is derived from Middle English strouten, struten (“to bulge, swell; to protrude, stick out; to bluster, threaten; to object forcefully; to create a disturbance; to fight; to display one's clothes in a proud or vain manner”) [and other forms], from Old English strūtian (“to project out; stand out stiffly; to exert oneself, struggle”), from Proto-Germanic *strūtōną, *strūtijaną (“to be puffed up, swell”), from Proto-Indo-European *streudʰ- (“rigid, stiff”), from *(s)ter- (“firm; strong; rigid, stiff”).

The English word is cognate with Danish strutte (“to bulge, bristle”), Low German strutt (“stiff”), Middle High German striuzen (“to bristle; to ruffle”) (modern German strotzen (“to bristle up”), sträußen (obsolete, except in Alemannic)); and compare Gothic 𐌸𐍂𐌿𐍄𐍃𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌻 (þrutsfill, “leprosy”), Old Norse þrútinn (“swollen”).

The noun is derived from the verb. Noun sense 2 (“instrument for adjusting the pleats of a ruff”) appears to be due to a misreading of a 16th-century work which used the word stroout (strouted (“caused (something) to bulge, protrude, or swell; strutted”)).

verb struts · strutting · strutted · strut

  1. intransitive Of a peacock or other fowl: to stand or walk stiffly, with the tail erect and spread out. Hark, hark, I heare, the ſtraine of ſtrutting Chanticlere cry cockadidle-dowe.
  2. also, broadly, figuratively, intransitive To walk haughtily or proudly with one's head held high. He strutted about the yard, thinking himself master of all he surveyed.

    Similar: swagger, high-side, aura farm, boulevardier, cut a wide swath, cut it fat, cut round, exhibitionize, figure away, flamboast, flaunt, flex

  3. broadly, transitive To walk across or on (a stage or other place) haughtily or proudly. Taking you and your colleagues as the model of modern times, I should almost fear that the John Bull of former days was as different from the John Bull of the present time, as is a broad-shouldered, fearless Highlandman from the dapper cockney who struts the Park by the side of his fellow-milliner.
  4. intransitive, obsolete Often followed by out: to protuberate or stick out due to being full or swollen; to bulge, to swell. Sometimes [the clitoris] groweth to such a length that it hangeth without the cleft like a mans member, especially when it is fretted with the touch of the cloaths, and so strutteth and groweth to a rigiditie as doth the yarde [penis] of a man.
  5. obsolete, transitive Often followed by out: to cause (something) to bulge, protrude, or swell. [H]e gains the glitt'ring prize, / And ſtruts the gaudy food of gazing eyes, / A thing—that oft his Footmen may deſpiſe.

    Similar: distend

noun struts

  1. also, figuratively A step or walk done stiffly and with the head held high, often due to haughtiness or pride; affected dignity in walking. Putting on his hat, and thrusting both hands into the pockets of his trousers, he marched with a nonchalant strut out of the room, [...]
  2. historical An instrument for adjusting the pleats of a ruff.

strut²

  • /stɹʌt/ UK
  • [stɹɐt] UK
  • [stɹʊ̈t] UK
  • /stɹʌt/ US
  • /stɹət/ US
  • /stɹʌt/
  • [stɹʌt]
  • [stɹɐt]
  • /stɹʊt/ Northern England

Rhymes with -ʌt

Where it comes from

The origin of sense 1 of the noun (“beam or rod providing support”) is unknown; it is probably ultimately from Proto-Germanic *strūtōną, *strūtijaną (“to be puffed up, swell”): see further at etymology 1. The English word is cognate with Icelandic strútur (“hood jutting out like a horn”), Low German strutt (“rigid, stiff”), Norwegian strut (“nozzle, spout”), Swedish strut (“paper cornet”).

The verb is derived from sense 1 of the noun.

Sense 2 of the noun (“act of strutting”) is derived from the verb: see above.

noun struts

  1. A beam or rod providing support. This alteration will obviate the necessity for the injudicious iron struts which are now introduced between the backs of the columns and the face of the pilasters, and which, in a practical point of view, afford little or no advantage, except against a direct shock; and even in many such cases they

    Similar: rib

  2. An act of strutting (“bracing or supporting (something) by a strut or struts (sense 1); attaching diagonally; bending at a sharp angle”); specifically, deviation (of the spoke of a wheel) from the normal position.

verb struts · strutting · strutted · strout

  1. also, figuratively, transitive To brace or support (something) by a strut or struts; to hold (something) in place or strengthen by a diagonal, transverse, or upright support. Masonry flying arches strutting the retaining walls in Chorley cutting, Manchester-Blackpool line, L.M.S.R.
  2. intransitive To be attached diagonally or at a slant; also, to be bent at a sharp angle.

strut³

  • /stɹʌt/ UK
  • [stɹɐt] UK
  • [stɹʊ̈t] UK
  • /stɹʌt/ US
  • /stɹət/ US
  • /stɹʌt/
  • [stɹʌt]
  • [stɹɐt]
  • /stɹʊt/ Northern England

Rhymes with -ʌt

Where it comes from

Probably an archaic past participle of strut (“to (cause something to) bulge, protrude, or swell”), now replaced by strutted: see etymology 1.

adjective more strut · most strut

  1. obsolete Swelling out due to being full; bulging, protuberant, swollen.
  2. Scotland, obsolete Drunk, intoxicated; fou.

    Similar: Adrian Quist, adrip, aled up, all mops and brooms, arseholed, a sheet in the wind, a sheet in the wind's eye, bedrunken, befuddled, beliquored, besotted, besotten · Opposite: clearheaded, dry, on the wagon, sober, sober as a judge, stone-cold sober, undrunken, unintoxicated

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: swagger, sashay, ruffle, prance, cock, mainstay, depth, error, mistake, amount, sum, brace, cornerstone, pillar, plank, beam

Translations

Every language

verb of a peacock or other fowl: to stand or walk stiffly

Portuguêspavonear
Deutschherumstolzieren, sich aufplustern, stolzieren
Italianofare la ruota, camminare impettito

verb to walk haughtily or proudly

Españolcontonearse, pavonearse
हिन्दीइतराना itrānā
Portuguêspavonear, pavonear-se
Françaisparader, se pavaner
Deutschparadieren, stolzieren
Italianogongolare, pavoneggiarsi
Русскийходи́ть с напыщенным ви́дом xodítʹ s napyščennym vídom, ва́жничать vážničatʹ
العربيةتَبَخْتَر tabaḵtar

verb to protuberate or stick out due to being full or swollen — see also bulge, swell

Portuguêsprotuberar
Deutschsich aufblähen
Italianoprotuberare

verb to cause (something) to bulge, protrude, or swell

Deutschausbeulen, herausstehen, hervorstehen, vorstehen

noun step or walk done stiffly with the head held high

हिन्दीअकड़ akaṛ
DeutschStolzieren, Stratzen
Italianoandatura affettata, andatura solenne

noun beam or rod providing support

Españolpuntal, riostra, tornapunta, pluma, ademe, adema
हिन्दीटेक ṭek
Portuguêsescora, esteio
Françaisétai, support, hauban, jambe de force, bracon
DeutschStrebe, Spreize, Sprieß
Italianomontante, puntone
Русскийраспо́рка raspórka, сто́йка stójka, подко́с podkós

verb to brace or support (something) by a strut or struts

Portuguêsescorar
Deutschverstreben

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Cite this
MLA

"strut." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/strut. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

strut. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/strut

Chicago

"strut." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/strut.

BibTeX
@misc{strut_2026,
  title = {strut},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/strut},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}