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Added 9 October 2026

dude

/duːd/ noun

First recorded: 1883 Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about dude at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A man, generally a younger man.
So we were at the mall and these two dudes just walk up to us and say "hi".
A term of address for someone, often but not exclusively a man, particularly when hailing, cautioning them or offering advice.
Hey, dude, how's it going?
A tourist.

interjection

A term of address, usually for a man, conveying awe, excitement, surprise, annoyance, etc.
Dude! You finally called!

verb

To address someone as dude.
To take a vacation in a dude ranch.
Usually followed by up: to dress up, to wear smart or special clothes.

Origin

Uncertain, though likely a clipping of doodle (“fool, simpleton, mindless person”), perhaps with reference to the fashionable “Yankee Doodle dandy” in the 18th-century lyrics of the song “Yankee Doodle”; the word is first attested in 1883 as a New York City slang term of contempt for a “fastidious man, fop”. If so, then related to German Low German Dudeldop, Dudendop (“fool, dunce”), Saterland Frisian Duddigegen (“idiot”). It has also been suggested that the word is derived from dudes (“old rags”; compare duds) and dudesman (“scarecrow”), or possibly related to dawdle; It has also been suggested the word derives from the Irish dúid.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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