Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A man's suit popular during the early 1940s, characterized by full-legged, tight-cuffed trousers and a long coat with wide lapels and heavily padded, wide shoulders.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An outfit featuring a suit with broad shoulders, a long coat, and baggy trousers that taper to a tight fit at the ankles.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a flashy suit of extreme cut

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably from an alteration of suit.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Zoot may be a Caló slang pronunciation of suit, thus making the term a tautology and reduplication.

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Examples

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Comments

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  • A suit with high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed pegged trousers and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. This style of clothing was popularized by Hispanics, Italian Americans, African Americans, and Filipino Americans during the late 1930s and 1940s.

    June 19, 2008

  • zoot suit riot

    June 19, 2008

  • So THAT'S what a zoot suit is.

    October 6, 2008

  • Briefly revived by David Bowie et al in the '70's.

    October 6, 2008