Dictionary

galoot en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ɡəˈluːt/

Etymology

From Quranic Arabic جالُوت (jālūt, pronounced galūt in Egyptian Arabic), proper name equivalent to English Goliath, giant warrior of the ancient Philistine ethnicity; cf. connotations of derogatory uses of English Philistine. Doublet of goliath.

Meanings

1. (derogatory) A clumsy or uncouth person.
   • “Now there was an ugly galoot whose name isn’t worth mentioning.[…]” 1901, Winston Churchill, The Crisis, published 2008, page 190:
   • On TV and in movies and magazine ads, the image of fathers over the past generation evolved from the stern, sturdy father who knew best to a helpless Homer Simpson, or some ham-handed galoot confounded by the prospect of changing a diaper. 1993, Time, volume 141, numbers 18–26, page 53:
   • “I talk like a galoot when I get talking to feemale^([sic]) girls and I can’t lay my tongue to anything that sounds right.” 1901, Frank Norris, The Octopus, published 2008, page 293:
   • “So if someone does something I do not agree with, I could call him a galoot and it would be okay?” “Something like that, if you were friends.” “Are galoots always men?” 2012, John C. Gallagher, The Blood-Dimmed Tide Is Loosed, page 113:

Forms

Synonyms

lout · oaf · lummox · clodhopper

Translations (14)

es gaznápiro (clumsy or uncouth person) · ka მოუქნელი (clumsy or uncouth person) · de Tölpel (clumsy or uncouth person) · ru нело́вкий челове́к (clumsy or uncouth person) · pl bałwan (clumsy or uncouth person) · de Dummkopf (clumsy or uncouth person) · cs hrubián (clumsy or uncouth person) · fi köntys (clumsy or uncouth person) · ru у́валень (clumsy or uncouth person) · ru неуклю́жий челове́к (clumsy or uncouth person) · cs neotesanec (clumsy or uncouth person) · de Steinzeitmensch (clumsy or uncouth person) · ka დონდლო (clumsy or uncouth person) · pl bałwanica (clumsy or uncouth person)