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

In fact, John Dewey and other founders of the progressive education movement in the early 20th century were deeply anti-utilitarian.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 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

That evening, when Dewey left his office in the courthouse at Garden City, he took home with him a manila envelope.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote