haut gout

noun

A slight taint of decay, particularly in wild game meat, that used to be considered desirable; approximately, gaminess.

OriginFrench hautgoût →
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Meanings

nounhaut gout (uncountable)
  1. archaicuncountableA slight taint of decay, particularly in wild game meat, that used to be considered desirable; approximately, gaminess.

    In a word, Joseph had the same taste for a full-blooded cuffee, that an epicure has for the haut gout of a stale partridge, and was in ecstasies at my extrication.

    1854, Brantz Mayer, Theodore Canot, Captain Canot
    1 more example

    The merchants began to snuff the cadaverous haut goût of lucrative war; the freighting business never was so lively, on account of the prodigious taking up for transport service: great orders for provisions of all kinds, new clothing for the troops, puts life into the woollen manufactures.

    1907, Lewis Melville, Farmer George, volume 2, page 143
  2. dateduncountableA strong, desirable flavor to be relished; piquancy.

Origin

  1. Frenchhautgoût
  2. Englishhaut gout

From French hautgoût, from haut (“high”), goût (“taste”).

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French haut-goût
  • haut-goûtslight taint of decay in wild game meat
German Hautgout
  • Hautgoutslight taint of decay in wild game meat
Cite this entry
APA

haut gout. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/haut%20gout

MLA

“haut gout.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/haut%20gout. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “haut gout,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/haut%20gout.

Source: haut gout on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.