flout [M16th] Flout, which appeared in the 16th century and means ‘to openly disregard a rule or convention’, may come from a Dutch word fluiten meaning ‘whistle, play the flute, hiss derisively’. There is a German dialect expression pfeifen auf, literally ‘pipe at’, which is used in a similar way. Flout is often confused with flaunt [M16th], ‘to display something ostentatiously’, but there is no connection—the origin of flaunt is unknown.