‘Flaunt’ and ‘flout’

February 22, 2016March 16, 2016Hannah McCall 6 Comments

I am always surprised by the number of people who supposedly flaunt rules.

Flaunt

to display ostentatiously

Flout

to deliberately disobey or to display contempt for

The misuse is so widespread that, according to the Oxford English Corpus, the second and third commonest objects of flaunt are law and rules. The commonest object is wealth. Although the wrong use has been prevalent since the 1940s, it was not seen before the 20th century.

6 thoughts on “‘Flaunt’ and ‘flout’”

Let's CUT the Crap! says:

February 23, 2016 at 7:35 pm

So many words misused in English.

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drewdog2060drewdog2060 says:

February 23, 2016 at 4:21 pm

Reblogged this on newauthoronline.

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Don Massenzio says:

February 23, 2016 at 4:12 pm

Reblogged this on Don Massenzio's Blog and commented:
Quick, but useful tip on word usage. Right up there with Shutter and Shudder.

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Woebegone but Hopeful says:

February 23, 2016 at 3:50 pm

I use the very ungrammatical reminder ‘If ya got it. Flaunt it baby!’ (Might not be very dignified but it serves me well enough)

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- Hannah McCall says:
  
  February 23, 2016 at 4:37 pm
  
  If it works, it works! 🙂
  
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Aeryn Rudel says:

February 22, 2016 at 6:35 pm

Good one. I see these two confused a fair amount.

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