Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective loutish differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of loutish are boorish, churlish, and clownish. While all these words mean "uncouth in manners or appearance," loutish implies bodily awkwardness together with stupidity.

a loutish oaf

When would boorish be a good substitute for loutish?

Although the words boorish and loutish have much in common, boorish implies rudeness of manner due to insensitiveness to others' feelings and unwillingness to be agreeable.

a drunk's boorish behavior

In what contexts can churlish take the place of loutish?

The words churlish and loutish can be used in similar contexts, but churlish suggests surliness, unresponsiveness, and ungraciousness.

churlish remarks

When could clownish be used to replace loutish?

The words clownish and loutish are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, clownish suggests ill-bred awkwardness, ignorance or stupidity, ungainliness, and often a propensity for absurd antics.

an adolescent's clownish conduct

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of loutish At one point Jan, distracted by Kasia’s upcoming sonogram, is being drilled by his loutish captain. Jessica Kiang, Variety, 5 Sep. 2023 McNally is known for dishing dirt on his celebrity clientele, exposing loutish diners, and waxing philosophical about Manhattan cultural mores. Kara Baskin, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Apr. 2023 Both Steve and Nick turn a blind eye to the way their mostly white clientele single out the token dancer of color for particularly loutish objectification, grabbing Otis’s head for a kiss or reaching inside his briefs despite his clear discomfort. Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 12 Dec. 2022 Yet this film’s strong proto-feminist stance, in which two young women seek new, urban lives in Budapest while regularly battling loutish men, proves its biggest draw. David Mermelstein, WSJ, 24 Sep. 2022 See All Example Sentences for loutish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for loutish
Adjective
  • McCarthy gives a great performance, playing up the press secretary’s more boorish traits as a gum-guzzling loudmouth that mangles words and twists facts like pretzels.
    Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 11 Feb. 2025
  • Unlike their boorish, booing counterparts in Philadelphia, Chiefs fans are known for their hospitality and actually welcome opposing fans to join their barbecuing paradise at Sunday tailgates.
    Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel, 8 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • To even suggest that not all societies wanted peace was seen as vulgar and uncouth.
    Uri Kurlianchik, National Review, 25 Feb. 2025
  • Generally speaking, northern clubs were work teams that fielded working-class players, while southern clubs were affiliated with famous schools and featured young gentlemen who would not dream of doing something as uncouth as taking payment for playing a game.
    Matt Slater, The Athletic, 4 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • But Victor leans less into clownish mortification than her predecessors, making room instead for a delicate quietude and sincerity.
    Jon Frosch, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Redheads often fielded comments related to having a hot temper, being clownish, weirdness, Irishness, not capable of being in the sun, being wild (among women), wimpy (among men), and intellectually superior.
    David Faris, Newsweek, 19 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Thank you Hallie for thinking of me and putting my name in your stupid brother's ear.
    Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 24 Feb. 2025
  • That would have been a stupid question just about anywhere else, but the exhibition was by Laura Owens, a painter with a penchant for trickery, and the venue was Matthew Marks Gallery in New York, whose press release for Owens’s latest outing offered little in the way of explanation.
    Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 24 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Some might consider this observation churlish when her biggest rival, ITV, was criticized for abandoning the playing field on Christmas Day after scheduling a parade of repeats.
    Jake Kanter, Deadline, 6 Jan. 2025
  • The British series, which debuted in 2022, follows Oscar winner Gary Oldman’s churlish and disheveled Jackson Lamb as the leader of a team of disgraced and disowned MI5 agents scrappily and shabbily getting the job done.
    Trey Williams, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Aug. 2024
Adjective
  • Communism, on the other hand, advocates for a classless society where all property is communally owned.
    H. Sami Karaca, The Conversation, 13 Jan. 2025
  • Their classless behavior is almost unbelievable at times.
    Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 18 Feb. 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Loutish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/loutish. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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