Clout

How to spell clout

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce clout

What does clout mean?

1. nounThe power to influence people, decisions, or events.
2. nounA hard hit or knock, especially with the hand.

Clout in a sentence

• The union still carries enormous clout in the negotiations.

• The boxer landed a solid clout to his opponent's jaw.

• A celebrity endorsement gives the campaign real clout.

• A sudden clout from the falling branch dented the car roof.

Where does clout come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Clout descends from the Old English clut, which named a patch of cloth, a small piece of metal, or a lump, and which was related to similar words across the old Germanic languages. From the literal idea of a patch came the verb sense of patching or mending, and from there, by the late medieval period, the idea of striking something hard enough to leave a mark, much as a cobbler hammers a metal stud into a sole. Over the centuries the cloth meaning faded in everyday English while the meaning of a heavy blow stayed alive in dialect and informal speech. The modern figurative sense of political or social influence is the newest layer, growing chiefly in American usage during the early twentieth century, where having clout meant being able to hit hard in a contest of power. Because the word is so short and is spelled exactly as it sounds, its only real trap is the ou cluster, which a writer might be tempted to render as 'clowt'.

How the word is built

• clout (from Old English clut: a patch, lump, or metal plate; no affixes)