cop-out

• copout

Deverbal from cop out.

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cop-out (plural cop-outs)

1. (slang) Avoidance or inadequate performance of a task or duty; the action of copping out.

   His disappearance on the day of the audition was just a cop-out.

2. (slang) An excuse made in order to avoid performing a task or duty; a reason offered when someone cops out.

   It was a cop-out to say he couldn't sign the petition because he sprained his wrist.

3. (slang) A person who cops out.

   He's always a cop-out when there's hard work to be done.

   • 1989 August 12, Kate Rushin, “Is Better Than Hollywood Good Enough?”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 5, page 8:

     Even when they are talking one-on-one, we aren't allowed to see behind the posturing and emblematic language. The major exception to this is Da Mayor […] who is both scorned and respected, seen as both a cop-out and a hero.

• “cop-out”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “cop-out”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• "cop-out" in the Wordsmyth Dictionary-Thesaurus (Wordsmyth, 2002)