to strut one's stuff
- idiom
- Informal
- Go, strut your stuff.
- strut one's stuff onstage
- see someone strut their stuff
- chance to strut your stuff
Examples
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Team Mongoose struts their stuff.
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There's Prime Minister Motaz, strutting his stuff.
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I just want to strut my stuff.
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Step right up and strut your stuff
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Now, let's take a look and watch the lady strut her stuff.
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I'm not giving you a chance to strut your stuff.
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Strut your stuff, Billy boy.
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Marley strutted his stuff, and that won him 1st place!
Blog text (6) -
Yeah, let's see those Beverly Hills dogs strut their stuff, huh?
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At the talent show, the dancers really knew how to strut their stuff and wow the audience.
Synonyms
269
3.2
To act proudly to get attention or praise
68
8.4
To act with confidence and skill to attract other people's attention
61
5.5
To walk proudly to attract attention
60
5.7
To show something in a very obvious way to get attention
33
7.7
To show off something to impress other people, often on social media
13
7.7
To pretend to be more important or clever than you are
12
7.4
Act in a loud way to get attention and impress people
10
5.6
To walk or behave in a confident way to impress others
6
8.4
Act as if you are better than other people
4
7.0
To show off expensive things, like a watch or car, to impress other people
3
7.5
Act in a flashy way to get attention
2
6.5
To act in a way that is not natural to impress others
1
9.9
Act in a showy way to impress people
1
7.5
Acting in a dramatic way to get attention
1
9.9
To brag about what you have done
1
9.9
To act in a way that is not natural to impress others
1
9.9
To talk about yourself to show you are more important
1
6.8
To show power to frighten or control others
To show things in a way that makes people admire you
To behave so others notice you in an embarrassing way
To try to impress people by showing off or being charming
Antonyms
To keep your talents or good work hidden instead of showing them to others
How Confident
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'to confidently display one's abilities' is directly derivable from combining 'strut' (to move confidently to attract attention) with 'one's stuff' (one's qualities or skills). This verb + possessive-noun composition maps onto a common 'show off/display' pattern that a B1 learner who knows the constituents should readily understand.
Etymology
Strut one's stuff comes from the image of someone making a proud, showy walk—like a model on a runway or a rooster strutting to get attention. Here strut is the proud walk and stuff means your skills or looks, so the phrase means 'to show off' or 'to try to impress others'.