Words / B2

KLOWT/klaʊt/

Clout is influence or power, especially political or economic (informal in news); also a heavy blow: political clout; union clout. Influence is the formal twin (already elsewhere); power is broader. Union clout featured in the strike source. Mix-up: cloud (already in the dictionary); clot. Do not write clout for a playground slap in a serious news write-up unless the source uses the blow sense.

Meaning

Influence or power, especially political or economic (informal in news); also a heavy blow.

Examples

• “Union clout featured in the strike source, not a playground slap.”
• “The committee had little clout over funding, which is the influence sense.”

Good to know

political / union / media clout; have clout. Formal twin: influence. Trap: cloud. News, citizenship, and business. Influence or power, not a weather word.

Near in meaning

influence

New