daddy
Americannoun
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daddies
plural
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Informal. a diminutive of dad.
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Slang. sugar daddy.
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Slang. an affectionate or familiar term of address to a boyfriend or male romantic partner, especially if he is older.
verb (used with object)
idioms
noun
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an informal word for father
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slang the supreme or finest example
the daddy of them all
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slang the dominant male in a group; boss; top man
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of daddy
Explanation
Daddy is an affectionate nickname for your father. For many babies, daddy is one of the earliest words they learn to speak. Many young children call their fathers daddy, and the word is believed to come from baby talk, or the initial sounds — da da — that a baby or toddler tends to make when she's first learning to speak. It's less common for a grown person to call her dad daddy, although some people use the childish nickname throughout their lives.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Your daddy is a work in progress, I’m a work in progress,” she sighs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
"My dad wasn't an educated man, he wasn't able to read and write, but my daddy had a great sense of business," she told the BBC's World Service in 2017.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
"My mother was a Democrat and my daddy was a Republican, so I’m a hypocrite," she quipped.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
Nobody was in the club, and I went to my daddy and said, “Let’s go home, man. Nobody is in here.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
I just know I missed you something awful when my daddy told me you were gone.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
But they’re also doing something many child-free cat ladies and cat daddies can relate to on a scale that suits them – growing food, making butter, harvesting eggs.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2024
"It is also for our children to say there are a lot of people who have two mummies or two daddies," she said.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2023
“I trust mamas, I trust daddies, to deal with the health care of their children.”
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 16, 2023
Wyatt told his mother “some people’s daddies leave and they get hurt and they don’t come home,” but she tried to reassure him.
From New York Times ● May 14, 2023
Here and there, adults herded the children along, and I heard one say, “Don’t worry, you’ll see your mummies and daddies again soon!”
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
With Henry suddenly tired of daddying, the twins melted back into the woods with Wash every chance they got, taking Edgar along for their adventures.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
