flout

To flout something is to openly and deliberately ignore it, especially when the thing being ignored is a law, rule, custom, or accepted way of behaving. The idea is stronger than simply failing to follow something. It suggests that the person knows the rule exists and breaks it anyway in a bold, visible, and often disrespectful way.

This word is often used when the act feels public. Someone who quietly slips past a rule may simply be breaking it, but someone who makes a show of ignoring it is closer to flouting it. That is why the word often carries a feeling of challenge, disrespect, or proud refusal.

You might read that a politician flouted campaign finance laws, meaning they openly ignored them. A student could flout the dress code by wearing something clearly forbidden. An author might flout literary convention by refusing the usual structure and doing it in a way that draws attention.

It is also worth noting that the word usually points to attitude as much as action. The person is not only disobeying; they are doing it with a sense of boldness or contempt. While you might disobey a traffic rule by accident or in private, you would flout authority by breaking the rule in a way that clearly shows you do not respect it.

So, when someone openly breaks a rule or rejects an expectation with clear defiance, they flout it. The word is especially useful when you want to show not just disobedience, but visible and intentional disrespect.