zoot-suithttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoot-suit_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_usezoot suit, n.
Revised 2017

zoot suitnoun

Originally U.S. slang.
  1. 1.
    1942–
    A man’s suit of an exaggerated style, characterized by a long, loose jacket with padded shoulders and high-waisted tapering trousers.
    The zoot suit was popular in the United States in the 1940s, esp. among African American, Hispanic, and Italian communities.
    1. 1942
      I want a Zoot Suit with a reat pleat, with a drape shape.
      R. Gilbert & B. O'Brien, Zoot Suit (song) 3
    2. 1951
      Next thing we know, one of these ‘hepcats’ will probably trade his kimono for a zuit suit.
      Pacific Stars & Stripes (Tokyo) 29 May 2/4
    3. 1969
      Chavez became a pachuco, affecting a zoot suit with pegged pants.
      Time 14 July 16/2
    4. 1984
      Baggy zoot suits and skinhead styles have revived the adult market.
      Guardian 5 October 3/1
    5. 2004
      The audience was largely groovers in zoot suits with pencil moustaches.
      Mojo June 84/2
  2. 2.
    1942–
    Chiefly Military slang. Any of various kinds of clothing for the whole body, as a set of overalls, a flying suit, etc.
    1. 1942
      Wearing ‘zoot’ suits, the name given newly perfected sniper suits.
      Evening Democrat (Fort Madison, Iowa) 17 July 5/6
    2. 1945
      Zoot suit (which, of course, came originally from U.S. jive slang) for the crude civilian clothes given to discharged servicemen.
      S. J. Baker, Australian Language 158
    3. 1952
      The warm ‘tank suits’..were soon known to the troops as ‘zoot suits’, and were aptly described as a ‘mass of zip-fasteners joined together by windproof and waterproof material’.
      D. Clarke, Eleventh at War xvii. 416
    4. 1984
      Her hands grew sweaty on the stick, and she wiped first one, then the other, on the baggy pants of her zoot suit.
      J. Dailey, Silver Wings, Santiago Blue iv. 70
    5. 2010
      The WASPs spent much of their training time wearing ‘zoot suits’—army issue mechanics' overalls.
      Indiana (Pennsylvania) Gazette 6 June 8/3

zoot suit, n. was revised in June 2017.

zoot suit, n. was last modified in December 2023.