Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Informal An Easterner or city person who vacations on a ranch in the West.
- noun Informal A man who is very fancy or sharp in dress and demeanor.
- noun A man; a fellow.
- noun A person of either sex.
- transitive verb To dress elaborately or flamboyantly.
- interjection Used to express approval, satisfaction, or congratulations.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A fop or exquisite, characterized by affected refinements of dress, speech, manners, and gait, and a serious mien; hence, by an easy extension, and with less of contempt, a man given to excessive refinement of fashion in dress.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Recent A kind of dandy; especially, one characterized by an ultrafashionable style of dress and other affectations.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun slang A
man . - noun slang, used in the vocative A term of address for a man.
- noun originally An
inexperienced cowboy . - noun slang A
tourist . - noun archaic A
dandy , a man who is very concerned about his dress and appearance.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance
- noun an informal form of address for a man
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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Back then, in the early 80s, the term "dude" was not yet a universal term for "pretty much any person in North America, male or female."
Jen Sincero: Watch Your Mouth, Dude Jen Sincero 2011
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Back then, in the early 80s, the term "dude" was not yet a universal term for "pretty much any person in North America, male or female."
The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Jen Sincero 2011
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Saturday Night Live, in which the title dude fails every time to stop a bomb from going off using rubber bands, chewing gum, etc. Fine, funny.
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Saturday Night Live, in which the title dude fails every time to stop a bomb from going off using rubber bands, chewing gum, etc. Fine, funny.
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Saturday Night Live, in which the title dude fails every time to stop a bomb from going off using rubber bands, chewing gum, etc. Fine, funny.
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Saturday Night Live, in which the title dude fails every time to stop a bomb from going off using rubber bands, chewing gum, etc. Fine, funny.
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Saturday Night Live, in which the title dude fails every time to stop a bomb from going off using rubber bands, chewing gum, etc. Fine, funny.
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Saturday Night Live, in which the title dude fails every time to stop a bomb from going off using rubber bands, chewing gum, etc. Fine, funny.
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Saturday Night Live, in which the title dude fails every time to stop a bomb from going off using rubber bands, chewing gum, etc. Fine, funny.
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Saturday Night Live, in which the title dude fails every time to stop a bomb from going off using rubber bands, chewing gum, etc. Fine, funny.
tankexmortis commented on the word dude
Who was it that said that in 50 years the only words left would be like and dude?
January 12, 2007
seanahan commented on the word dude
The hilarious scene from "Dude, Where's My Car", consisting entirely of the words "Dude" and "Sweet".
January 13, 2007
slumry commented on the word dude
The vogue word of 1883.
July 17, 2007
kalli commented on the word dude
We, as in the royal we, like The Dude. El Duderino if you're not into that whole brevity thing.
October 22, 2007
poisonedblueeyes commented on the word dude
dude.
February 21, 2008
yarb commented on the word dude
Maidenhead itself is too snobby to be pleasant. It is the haunt of the river swell and his overdressed female companion. It is the town of showy hotels, patronised chiefly by dudes and ballet girls.
- Jerome, Three Men in a Boat, 1889.
April 4, 2008
whichbe commented on the word dude
The word "dude", which was coined by Oscar Wilde and his friends, is a portmanteau of the words 'duds' (for clothes) and 'attitude'. Unlike today, the word was considered derogatory until the 1960s.
May 7, 2008
gangerh commented on the word dude
Always liked this word. And all ways. Now I know why. Wilde being one of my Wordie heroes. Suddenly the word is cooler. Even mint. Dude is the new uberpersonword.
May 7, 2008
dontcry commented on the word dude
It cracks me up when my son calls me dude!
August 1, 2008
madmouth commented on the word dude
feminine: dudine (see OE)
July 7, 2009
Ulrich commented on the word dude
What about including the urban dictionary?
July 8, 2009
nzanh commented on the word dude
I hate this word! This is a word that is way overworked and far too informal to address strangers and figures of authority. But people do it everyday. Some people are so entranced by this word that they manage to use this word 5 times in a sentence. I'm 50 years old and don't appreciate a 20 something calling me this word.
December 19, 2009
Prolagus commented on the word dude
"An inexperienced cowboy". Well spotted, ruzuzu! Thanks!
December 6, 2010