clout
noun
Attention, fame, or popularity, especially on social media
What does clout mean?
The slang sense of clout refers to attention, fame, popularity, and sometimes notoriety, especially the kind one may achieve on social media, whether by posting a controversial hot take or performing a stunt on video in the hope that it goes viral.
Examples of clout
The amount of roundabout ways people look for clout to score social points lmao
—@jstnurmind, X (formerly Twitter), 11 Feb. 2025
Going to try to block all these bad actors going forward instead of seeing these dumb posts trying to get people angry for clout.
—Therapist told me to “stop crudely editing images for internet clout” but I don’t think that’s possible for me tbh (I’m a leo).
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Where does clout come from?
Clout is an ancient word, with most of its meanings throughout history related either to cloth/handkerchiefs/sails/etc. or a bop/wallop/smack with one’s hand. In the mid-1900s, clout began to be used in American English to refer to a person’s power to influence or sway the actions or opinions of others. This type of clout (as in “political clout” or “box-office clout”) was something that a person amassed usually through achievement and success and could then leverage for some other purpose or goal. With the rise of social media and its metrics such as likes, follower counts, etc., individuals were able to measure—in a way—their relative online popularity, or at least the attention received by their various postings, perhaps contributing to this developing sense of clout.
How is clout used?
While traditional clout is often written about as something one earns and then uses, the new clout is usually something one seeks or chases.
On my wedding day, I had a ring, a bride and a smartphone streaming every syllable of my awkward vows onto the internet. To be clear, I wasn’t just chasing clout. Planning any wedding is a pain, but ours came with a crucial wrinkle: Some beloved friends and family were either too sick, or too far away from idyllic Iowa, to attend.
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Similar to how virtue signaling is frowned upon, clout chasing tends to be written about with a certain amount of disdain, suggesting that the means of pursuit are frivolous or performative. This isn’t always the case, however, nor is clout chasing something that happens exclusively online (though it usually does):
Though chasing clout consumes many rappers, [Michael] Christmas is content to make music for the uncool kids.
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