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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

See Examples For:

dad

And, despite a dad bod that hardly made him look like an elite athlete, Skenes did it by throwing hard.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

But from being underestimated, I remember my dad being like, “You have to get comfortable with ‘no.’

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

McGregor’s dad even suggests driving through a herd of small stegosauruses, insisting with unmerited optimism that they’ll simply move out of the way.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

To get to see it with my wife, my child and my dad is amazing really.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

“The steps you’ve taken are necessary for you to choose yourself, for you to be your authentic self, and not the self your dad chose for you. Do you understand that?”

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

Related Words

• old man
• papa
• parent