louche

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See also: louché

English

A glass of absinthe which has been louched (verb sense) with water

Etymology

Borrowed from French louche.

Pronunciation

Adjective

louche (comparative loucher, superlative louchest)

  1. Of questionable taste or morality; decadent.
  2. Not reputable or decent.
  3. Unconventional and slightly disreputable in an attractive manner; raffish, rakish.

Noun

louche

  1. A dubious or disreputable person or thing
    • 2003, Barbara Cleverly, Ragtime in Simla, Robinson, →ISBN:
      '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?'
    • 2007, Tom Treece, But What Do I Know?, Xulon Press, →ISBN:
      I'm outraged this louche has since fathered two children with another woman and that after all this questionable, nefarious behavior, Greer continues to see no conflict of interest in him being Terd's guardian.
    • 2012, Bill Cain, Dove of War, AuthorHouse, →ISBN:
      "Rooster, you say? He seems to always appear at unusual times and locations. He strikes me as something of a legerdemain. Let's hope he is no louche when it comes to his role in all of this.

Verb

louche (third-person singular simple present louches, present participle louching, simple past and past participle louched)

  1. (transitive) 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.
    Certain anise-flavored drinks have developed a mystique based on the exotic appearance of louching.
    • 2010, Paul Owens, Paul Nathan, Dave Herlong, The Little Green Book of Absinthe: An Essential Companion with Lore, Trivia, and Classic and Contemporary Cocktails, New York, N.Y.: Perigee Books, →ISBN:
      In distillation, the first few liters of absinthe to come out of the still are called the head; the last few liters are the tail. The head and tail don't have enough alcohol to keep the oils in suspension, so the absinthe comes out of the still louched.
    • 2012, Heather E. Hutsell, chapter 1, in Blood Mettle, : Fatty Baby Cat Publishing, →ISBN, page 2:
      I found a little corner to stand in and pretended to sip my own louched absinthe.
    • 2015, Jason Sizemore, For Exposure: The Life and Times of a Small Press Publisher, Lexington, Ky.: Apex Publishers, →ISBN:
      Ah, Mr. Sizemore, the green fairy is best prepared carefully and slowly to appreciate its full potential. Simply fill the fountain with iced water, place your glass of absinthe below the spigot with a single sugar cube placed over a slotted spoon and adjust the tap to your desired flow. The cold water will gradually dissolve the sugar and mix with the absinthe in a process known as louching.

Translations

Further reading

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French louche, from Latin lusca.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈlu.ʃə/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: lou‧che

Adjective

louche (comparative loucher, superlative meest louche or louchest)

  1. seedy, fishy, shady
    Synonym: onguur

Declension

Declension of louche
uninflected louche
inflected louche
comparative loucher
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial louche loucher het louchest
het loucheste
indefinite m./f. sing. louche louchere loucheste
n. sing. louche loucher loucheste
plural louche louchere loucheste
definite louche louchere loucheste
partitive louches louchers

French

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Old French lousche, from Latin lusca, feminine of luscus (one-eyed) ( > Old French lois). Compare Italian losco and Portuguese lusco.

Adjective

louche (plural louches)

  1. (dated) cross-eyed
  2. (by extension) cloudy; obscure
  3. (figuratively) shady; dubious; seedy; shifty
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Dutch: louche
  • English: louche

Noun

louche m (plural louches)

  1. (in a liquid) cloudiness due to a suspension of fine particles

Etymology 2

A dialectal (Norman-Picard) form of Old French louce, loce, from Old Frankish *lōtija, from Proto-Germanic *hlōþþijō. Cognate with Dutch loet (a tool to scrape or shovel). More at loot.

Noun

louche f (plural louches)

  1. ladle

Etymology 3

Regular conjugation of -er verb loucher

Verb

louche

  1. inflection of loucher:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading