zoot-suitedadjective
Factsheet
What does the adjective zoot-suited mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective zoot-suited. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the adjective zoot-suited?
| 1940 | 0.0036 |
| 1950 | 0.0033 |
| 1960 | 0.0034 |
| 1970 | 0.0035 |
| 1980 | 0.0034 |
| 1990 | 0.0034 |
| 2000 | 0.0037 |
| 2010 | 0.0036 |
Where does the adjective zoot-suited come from?
Earliest known use
1940s
The earliest known use of the adjective zoot-suited is in the 1940s.
OED's earliest evidence for zoot-suited is from 1942, in the Chicago Defender.
Nearby entries
- zootic, adj.1816–
- zootokon, n.1661
- zootomic, adj.1801–
- zootomical, adj.1799–
- zootomically, adv.1849–
- zootomist, n.1663–
- zootomy, n.1663–
- zootoxin, n.1906–
- zootrophy, n.1877–
- zoot suit, n.1942–
- zoot-suited, adj.1942–
- zoot-suiter, n.1942–
- zooty, adj.1942–
- zootype, n.1883–
- zootypic, adj.1853–
- zoowoman, n.1930–
- zooxanthella, n.1882–
- zooxanthellate, adj. & n.1981–
- zooxanthin, n.1868–
- zoozygosphere, n.1880–
- zope, n.1880–
Meaning & use
- 1942–Dressed in a zoot suit.Stressed as ˈzoot-suited.
- 1942
Wasp-waist zoot-suited..uniformed wonders.
Chicago Defender 5 September 14 - 1969
Zoot-suited spivs and crash-helmeted police.
Daily Telegraph 31 October 15/2 - 2000
Two hundred sailors formed a posse..to scout for zoot-suited Mexicans through downtown L.A.
G. Santoro, Myself when I am Real (2001) iv. 61
the world textiles and clothing clothing wearing clothing [adjectives] wearing a suit or set of clothes types of- business-suited1871–Wearing a business suit; characterized by the wearing of business suits.
- pyjamaed1883–Dressed in pyjamas, pyjama-clad.
- blue-suited1884–
- bloomered1895–Wearing bloomer costume.
- zoot-suited1942–Dressed in a zoot suit.
- bikinied1959–Clad in a bikini.
- sailor-suited1960–
- tracksuited1965–Wearing or clad in a tracksuit.
- trouser-suited1966–Wearing a trouser suit.
- sack-suited1978–sack suit n. a suit with a straight, loose-fitting jacket; a lounge suit. Hence sack-suited adj.
- shell-suited1991–Wearing a shell suit (shell suit, n. 2).
Frequency
zoot-suited typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zoot-suited is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of zoot-suited, adj., 1940–2010
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.
The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.
For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.
Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.
| Decade | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| 1940 | 0.0036 |
| 1950 | 0.0033 |
| 1960 | 0.0034 |
| 1970 | 0.0035 |
| 1980 | 0.0034 |
| 1990 | 0.0034 |
| 2000 | 0.0037 |
| 2010 | 0.0036 |