tout

tout — verb

1. to publicly speak about a person, product, or idea in glowing terms — often by r

1.verbtransitiveC1
Definition

to publicly speak about a person, product, or idea in glowing terms — often by repeating their good points — in order to make others believe they are excellent or worth choosing.

Example

Critics touted Mateo's debut novel as the most original Mexican thriller of the decade.

tout sb/sth as sth pattern

The new electric scooter has been touted as a cheap solution to traffic in Taipei.

passive: be touted as sth

Common collocations
  • touted as the next
  • widely touted
  • heavily touted
  • touted as a cure
  • touted as a solution
Synonyms
  • promote

    neutral business term; lacks the loud, repeated quality of 'tout'

  • hail

    more formal and journalistic; usually a one-off public declaration

  • talk up

    informal; suggests inflating value beyond what's deserved

Antonyms
  • downplay

    make something sound less important or impressive

  • disparage

    speak about something dismissively, formal

Grammar Patterns

tout sb/sth as sth

be touted as sth

tout sth

Usage Note

Frequently passive, especially in journalism: 'X is/has been touted as Y'. Often carries a faint hint of overselling — readers may infer the praise is louder than the evidence supports.

Common Mistakes

The phone was touted by everyone.
The phone was touted as the year's best camera.
this sense almost always names what the thing is touted as; bare 'tout' without 'as' sounds incomplete.

2. to keep approaching strangers — often in the street or outside a shop — and pres

2.verbtransitive / intransitiveC1
Definition

to keep approaching strangers — often in the street or outside a shop — and pressure them to buy what you are selling or to use your service.

Example

Drivers tout for passengers outside the bus station in central Marrakech every evening.

tout for sth (intransitive)

Two men were touting cheap boat trips to tourists along the harbour wall.

tout sth (transitive)

Common collocations
  • tout for trade
  • tout for business
  • tout for customers
  • tout for clients
Synonyms
  • hawk

    very similar; often suggests carrying small goods around to sell

  • solicit

    more formal; often used of professional services or charity

  • peddle

    implies low-value goods or dubious quality

Grammar Patterns

tout sth

tout for sth

Usage Note

Mainly British usage. The activity is often unwanted by the person being approached, so the verb carries a mildly negative tone. 'Tout for trade/business/customers' is a very common fixed phrasing.

Common Mistakes

He touted me a tour of the city.
He kept touting tours of the city to passing tourists.
you tout goods or services AT/TO people, not people AT goods.

3. to sell event tickets — for example to a concert or football match — outside the

3.verbtransitiveC2
Definition

to sell event tickets — for example to a concert or football match — outside the venue without permission, charging buyers far more than the original ticket price.

Example

Two men were arrested for touting Wimbledon tickets at five times the face value.

tout sth (tickets) at + price

Fans had to push past people touting tickets on the steps of the stadium.

Common collocations
  • tout tickets
  • tout for face value
  • tout outside the stadium
Synonyms
  • scalp

    American equivalent; same meaning

  • resell

    neutral; doesn't imply illegality or inflated price

Grammar Patterns

tout tickets

tout sth (tickets) for/at + price

Usage Note

Almost exclusively British. The American equivalent is 'scalp'. The activity is illegal or restricted in many places, so the verb often appears in news reports and legal contexts.

Common Mistakes

I bought a touted ticket from the official website.
I bought a touted ticket from a man outside the gate.
touted tickets by definition come from unofficial resellers, not the official seller.

tout — noun

Word family

  • touting
    nounC2
  • touted
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four verbs describe public praise that pushes others toward a positive opinion, but they differ in tone and context. 'Promote' is the neutral business-marketing term — a company promotes a product through any channel, with no implied volume. 'Tout' is louder and more repetitive, and often hints that the praise is bigger than the evidence: a candidate touted as the next president may still flop. 'Hail' is the most formal and journalistic, usually a one-off public declaration ('the deal was hailed as historic'). 'Talk up' is informal and almost always implies inflating value above reality, often by a person with something to gain. 'Plug' is the most casual — squeezing in a quick mention, especially of one's own book or show on a talk-show interview. Compare: 'Reviewers hailed the album as a masterpiece' (one strong public verdict) vs 'The label kept touting the album for months' (loud, sustained selling).

promote ↗hail ↗talk up ↗plug ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • ticket tout
  • hotel tout
  • taxi tout
  • restaurant tout

Adverbs

  • widely touted
  • heavily touted
  • publicly touted
  • loudly touted

Phrases

  • touted as the next
  • tout for trade
  • tout for business
  • be touted as a solution

Prepositions

  • touted as
  • touted for
  • touted by

Etymology

Middle EnglishModern English

First recorded in late 17th-century English in the sense of 'peep' or 'look out' (related to an older verb meaning 'to stick out, peer'), the word soon shifted to describe a person who watches and lies in wait — particularly someone hanging around stables or racecourses to gather information for bets. From there it took on the modern senses of soliciting customers and selling tickets unofficially, and by the 19th century it was already used figuratively for noisy promotion of any kind.