dude

B1 Topic:People & Society

US /duːd/ UK /d(j)uːd/ See IPA manual

Freq #697

Meanings

1

noun
A man, especially a young one (informal).

Some dude I'd never met walked up and said hi.
2

intj
A friendly way to address or react to someone, showing surprise, excitement, or warning.

Dude, you finally called!

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a man, especially a young... guy blokebrochap

2 intj · a friendly way to address... mate

Word family

Forms dudes

Derived forms cisdudedude-brodudedomdudeismdudeistdudelessdudeletdudelydudenessdudeshipdudessdudette

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

dude ranch
a holiday ranch where visitors take part in riding and other ranch activities

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Dude is probably a shortening of doodle. It appeared in New York in the 1870s for a fashionably dressed, fastidious man, later referred to a city dweller visiting a western ranch, and by the 1890s had broadened to mean a person, especially a man.

Etymology

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 suggest…

Topics

People & Society Register & Style

External links

# dude

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, intj
**IPA (US):** /duːd/
**IPA (UK):** /d(j)uːd/
**Frequency rank:** 697

## Meanings
1. A man, especially a young one (informal).
2. A friendly way to address or react to someone, showing surprise, excitement, or warning.

## Examples
- Some dude I'd never met walked up and said hi.
- Dude, you finally called!

## Derived Forms
- cisdude
- dude-bro
- dudedom
- dudeism
- dudeist
- dudeless
- dudelet
- dudely
- dudeness
- dudeship
- dudess
- dudette

## Etymology
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 suggest…

## AI Etymology
Dude: 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”).

## Topics
- People & Society
- Register & Style

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