Meaning & use
galoot
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableAmerican
A clumsy, awkward or slightly foolish person, usually a man, spoken of in a teasing way.
Grammar: Countable: a big galoot, those galoots.
Patterns
- a big galoot
- a clumsy galoot
The big galoot tripped over his own shoelaces and landed in the flower bed.
She laughed at the lovable galoot who tried to carry six boxes at once.
Grandpa called every clumsy visitor a galoot.
Word forms
| plural | galoots |
|---|
Common combinations
- a big galoot
- He's a big galoot with a heart of gold.
- a clumsy galoot
- Some clumsy galoot knocked over the lamp.
- an old galoot
- The old galoot waved from his porch.
- a lovable galoot
- The film's hero is a lovable galoot.
- a dumb galoot
- Don't be such a dumb galoot, you'll hurt yourself.
Synonyms and how they differ
- oaf
- Oaf is a harsher word for a stupid, clumsy person, whereas galoot is usually said with affection.
- lummox
- Lummox suggests a heavy, awkward person and is just as old-fashioned and humorous.
- lout
- Lout implies rudeness or bad manners, which galoot does not.
- klutz
- Klutz means someone who is physically clumsy and is a more modern and widely used word.
Word family
- galootish adjective
- like a galoot; awkward
Commonly confused: galoot or galore?
galoot vs galore
Galore means in large amounts and always follows the noun, as in bargains galore; it has nothing to do with galoot.
Practice
Which person might be called a galoot in a friendly way?
Choose one answer.
A galoot is an awkward, clumsy and slightly foolish person. The other people are not described by clumsiness.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “galoot”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.