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

She suffered a "difficult transition" and was put on the school's watch list due to the fact her dad had died after being hit by a car while cycling when she was two.

Read more on BBC

"I can't explain how much I'm going to miss you, dad, and that we won't be making any new memories - but the ones we did I will cherish forever," he said.

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If this is a dad bod, sign me up for one immediately.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The family was conservative; her dad, a disciplinarian.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Ackman credits his drive in part to his dad making it clear not to expect a penny’s inheritance from him.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• old man 
• papa 
• parent