What does "louche" mean?

A dubious or disreputable person or thing

What is a synonym for "louche"?

Common synonyms include: disreputable.

//luːʃ// adj, noun, verb

adj, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A dubious or disreputable person or thing
"'That's right,' Joe smiled. 'Loafing about on the Mall with the louche of the town. And, speaking of the louche of the town, don't we have an appointment to interview one or two of them this morning?'"

Verb

1
To make (an alcoholic beverage, e.g. absinthe or ouzo) cloudy by mixing it with water, due to the presence of anethole. This is known as the ouzo effect. transitive
"Certain anise-flavored drinks have developed a mystique based on the exotic appearance of louching."

Adjective

1
Of questionable taste or morality; decadent.
"Upstairs Downstairs hosts the Kennedys and Wallis Simpson (these days, in British culture, the archetypal louche American)."
2
Not reputable or decent.
"My uncle knows something about that fellow—Clavering knows something about him. There’s something louche regarding him."
3
Unconventional and slightly disreputable in an attractive manner; raffish, rakish.
"Anyone inside the business can also tell you that without Carine Roitfeld's louche sexy styling Tom Ford's Gucci might easily have come off looking like a high-end Club Monaco."

Adjective

"Upstairs Downstairs hosts the Kennedys and Wallis Simpson (these days, in British culture, the archetypal louche American)."

Borrowed from French louche.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.