dude

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A man, generally a younger man.

   So we were at the mall and these two dudes just walk up to us and say "hi".

2. 2
   noun

   A term of address for someone, typically a man, particularly when cautioning them or offering advice.

   Dude, I'd be careful around the principal; he's having a bad day.

3. 3
   noun

   A tourist.

   Dudes are at least as entertaining as cows, even when they don't mean to be. A cow can’t voice that honestly curious question that turns a poor cowboy into a laughing fool the way a dude can. Probably nothing in the world can move a cowboy more than a newborn calf's clean, good looks and actions, unless it’s the look of awe on a little dude’s face the first time it sees a cowboy on a horse.

4. 4
   noun

   A birder who has expensive clothing and equipment, but scant knowledge of birds, their fieldmarks, habits, etc.

   I am forever slagging off some poor harmless dude or pitiful demented twitcher[.]

5. 5
   noun

   A man who is very concerned about his dress and appearance; a dandy, a fop.

   When the dude dons gloves couleur de chien jaune éclairé de la lune—

6. 6
   intj

   A term of address, usually for a man, conveying awe, excitement, surprise, annoyance, etc.

   Dude! You finally called!

7. 7
   verb

   To address someone as dude.

   "Where you been, Mac? I missed you! Dude—I mean, man," she corrects hastily, with a gamine grin, before I can make good on a threat I made in what feels like another lifetime that I would call her by her full name if she ever "duded" me again. […] Oh, yes, she's upset. She just unapologetically "duded" me.

8. 8
   verb

   To take a vacation in a dude ranch.

   The Old Hearst Ranch […] is one of the West's largest and most elaborate dude ranches and includes over 500 acres of woodland trails. There's "dudeing" with all the trimmings, excellent food and rooms at the lodge or individual cabanas.

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…