dad

¹

[dad]

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.

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

[dad]

interjection

Informal.

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

   dad-blamed; dad-gummed.

dad

³

[dad]

noun

Scot. and North England.

1. a solid blow or knock.

2. a large slice, lump, or portion.

ḍad

⁴

[dahd]

noun

1. the 15th letter of the Arabic alphabet.

dad

/ dæd /

noun

1. an informal word for father

Word History and Origins

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; Gad ¹ ( def. )

Origin of dad³

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

Origin of dad⁴

From Arabic

Word History and Origins

Origin of dad¹

C16: childish word; compare Greek tata, Sanskrit tatas

Example Sentences

"He wasn't the dad that I knew. He had a lot of brain fog, it affected him, it affected his personality."

From BBC

They stayed up wondering when their mom or dad would come home.

From Los Angeles Times

"Today, I actually said the same thing again and I scored. I ran to where my mum and dad were, so it was nice."

From BBC

“But ask yourself: If you were offered enough money to retire your dad, or spend a few more months at home with your family, or buy a 911, would you forget 9/11?”

From Salon

Retreating to their safe room after hearing gunfire just outside their walls, Amir texted his dad, Noam, in Tel Aviv.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• old man 
• papa 
• parent