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DictionarytoutPersistent promotion
verb / noun

tout

TOUT/taʊt/

Persistent promotion to attract interest or customers.

With a broad smile, he touts the cordless vacuum to her.

A young adult man enthusiastically promotes a compact cordless vacuum to a middle-aged woman, presenting the product with a broad smile and an emphatic open-handed gesture.
Etymology
toutMiddle Englishpeep, peer, look out

Originally meaning to peer or look out, tout came to mean looking out for customers and soliciting their business. From that developed the sense of praising something enthusiastically to help sell it.

In context

Democracy Now!0:22
we are looking for our constitutional conservatives out there, right? They like to tout themselves as that. It would be nice to have one nowadays.
Did Trump Violate Emoluments Clause from Day One by Receiving Payments to Trump Hotels, Trademarks?

More examples

  • The ads tout the app as an easy way to save.
  • The company has long touted its excellent customer service.
  • A tout outside the club keeps urging us to come inside.

Forms

tout · touts · touted · touting

Similar words

promote
Promote can describe neutral publicity without persistent or emphatic praise.
pitch
Pitch emphasizes a focused sales presentation rather than repeated promotion.