Dewey

American  

[doo-ee, dyoo-ee] / ˈdu i, ˈdyu i /

noun

1. George, 1837–1917, U.S. admiral: defeated Spanish fleet in Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War.

2. John, 1859–1952, U.S. philosopher and educator.

3. Melvil Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey, 1851–1931, U.S. educator, administrator, and innovator in the field of library science.

4. Thomas E(dmund), 1902–71, U.S. lawyer and political leader.

5. a male given name, form of David.

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Dewey British  

/ ˈdjuːɪ /

noun

1. John. 1859–1952, US pragmatist philosopher and educator: an exponent of progressivism in education, he formulated an instrumentalist theory of learning through experience. His works include The School and Society (1899), Democracy and Education (1916), and Logic: the Theory of Inquiry (1938)

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Example Sentences

Replacing him as the older Dewey is Caleb Ellsworth-Clark.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

“What helped me most was first recognizing the feeling as it started,” recalls Dewey.

From Slate • Mar. 15, 2026

James Dewey Watson was born in Chicago on 6 April 1928 to a family who believed in "books, birds and the Democratic Party".

From BBC • Nov. 7, 2025

In May, his handpicked commander, Commodore George Dewey, brought his ships into Manila Bay and destroyed the Spanish fleet.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 5, 2025

When within a month two great educators, Maria Montessori and John Dewey, died, the talk was of writing and advanced reading skills and whether they were good for the very young.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady