Robert Browning
Flaunt vs. Flout: Usage Guide
Although the "treat contemptuously" sense of flaunt undoubtedly arose from confusion with flout, the contexts in which it appears cannot be called substandard.
Oscar Lewis
Marchette Chute
R. T. Blackburn, AAUP Bull.
If you use it, however, you should be aware that many people will consider it a mistake. Use of flout in the sense of "flaunt, parade" is found occasionally.
Mike Royko
Did you know?
If you flout a rule or societal norm, you ignore it without hiding what you're doing, or showing fear or shame; you flout it "out" in the open. The similar-sounding word flaunt is sometimes used in the same way, though that word's older and more common meaning is "to display ostentatiously," as in "people who flaunt their wealth." Critics have been objecting to the confusion of these two words since the early 1900s, but use of flaunt with the meaning "to treat with contemptuous disregard" is found in even polished, edited writing, and so that meaning is included in dictionaries as an established use of the word. Nonetheless, you may want to avoid it: there are still many who judge harshly those who (they feel) are flouting proper English usage.
Synonyms
Examples of flout in a Sentence
Nick Sullivan, The Arizona Republic, 5 Nov. 2024
Even if the former President doesn’t win, Musk already has a track record of flouting regulation with few consequences in the US.
—Wes Davis, The Verge, 20 Oct. 2024
Amtrak has repeatedly accused the rail companies of flouting that law, saying violations lead to roughly 15,000 hours of delays per year.
—Rachel Weiner, Washington Post, 30 July 2024
For years, an emboldened Maduro has flouted democratic norms, maintaining power through repression and brazen electoral theft.
—Christopher Sabatini, Foreign Affairs, 9 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for flout 
Dictionary Entries Near flout
Cite this Entry
“Flout.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flout. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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