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• dad
  dad

  noun

  a person’s father or one’s father.
• ḍad
  ḍad

  noun

  the 15th letter of the Arabic alphabet.

dad

¹ American  

[dad] / dæd /

noun

1. a person’s father or one’s father.

2. a person who is corny or embarrassing in the way that a father figure might be.

   He was being such a dad when he told that story.

3. a term of endearment used to refer to a man or boy who is admired.

   A bunch of teens commented “HI DAD!” on the rapper’s post.

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adjective

1. corny or embarrassing in the way that a father figure might be: the most dad story ever.

   a dad joke;

   the most dad story ever.

2. handsome or stylish; amazing; to be admired.

   Those shoes are totally dad.

verb (used with object)

1. to act as a father toward; act paternally toward.

   Stop dadding me about my grades!

2. to refer to (an admired man or boy) as “dad”.

   My friends dad me whenever I look good.

verb (used without object)

1. to perform the tasks or duties of a male parent; act paternally.

   He dads like a champ.

2. to refer to an admired man or boy as “dad”.

   They dad whenever a new photo pops up on their feeds.

dad ² American  

[dad] / dæd /

interjection

Informal.

1. God (used in combination in mild oaths).

   dad-blamed; dad-gummed.

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dad ³ American  

[dad] / dæd /

noun

Scot. and North England.

1. a solid blow or knock.

2. a large slice, lump, or portion.

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ḍad ⁴ American  

[dahd] / dɑd /

noun

1. the 15th letter of the Arabic alphabet.

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dad British  

/ dæd /

noun

1. an informal word for father

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Etymology

Origin of dad¹

First recorded in 1530–40; probably originally baby talk dah-dah

Origin of dad²

First recorded in 1670–80; euphemism for God; see also Gad ¹ ( def. )

Origin of dad³

First recorded in 1710–20; probably variant of dab ¹

Origin of ḍad⁴

From Arabic

Explanation

Dad is an informal word for father. It’s a word like "pop" or "daddy." Some families have two dads, others have none. Sometimes a dad gets a “World’s Greatest Dad” mug on Father’s Day. Well done, sir. If you’re talking about any ol’ dad, don’t capitalize it. There are dads all over the place. If you’re addressing your own father, basically using Dad as his name, do capitalize the “d.” The word dates from at least 1500, and it's believed to come from childish speech, or baby talk, since a very common first sound made by babies is "da."

Example Sentences

Dad pretended nothing had gone wrong, which felt worse than being chewed out.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026

By age 7, I was helping Dad on his home-repair projects and Mom with her school.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026

In early May, he posted a video of his son, Kitt, performing a Michael Jackson dance routine, writing “Super proud Dad moment from last nights Gig in Atlanta.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2026

"Caring for Dad right up until the end of his life, and losing him, was one of the most painful things I've ever had to do," Cassidy says.

From BBC • May 24, 2026

Dad waits until Aunt J is out of earshot and then asks, “So… now that you two have met Candace, what do you think of her? She told me she really liked you two.”

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

Related Words

• old man
• papa
• parent