dingo

American  

[ding-goh] / ˈdɪŋ goʊ /

noun

• dingoes
  plural

1. a wolflike, wild dog, Canis familiaris dingo, of Australia, having a reddish- or yellowish-brown coat.

2. Australian. a cowardly or treacherous person.

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dingo British  

/ ˈdɪŋɡəʊ /

noun

1. a wild dog, Canis dingo, of Australia, having a yellowish-brown coat and resembling a wolf

2. slang a cheat or coward

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verb

1. 1. to act in a cowardly manner

   2. to drop out of something

2. (foll by on) to let (someone) down

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• dingoes
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of dingo

First recorded in 1789, dingo is from the Dharuk word din-gu tame dingo

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Explanation

A dingo is a wild Australian dog, a very distant relative of the pup curled up on your sofa. Dingoes are sometimes called "singing dogs" for the wide variety of howls they use to communicate. Dingoes have lived in Australia for at least 3,500 years, and they're the largest carnivorous mammal on the continent (besides humans). These medium-sized brown and white dogs live and hunt in family groups, preying on rabbits, small rodents, and helping to control some invasive species like the red fox. Dingo comes from the Native Australian Dharruk language, meaning "tame dog."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dingo dingoes

Earlier investigations had found "extensive post-mortem dingo bite marks" and that it was "not likely" that pre-mortem dingo bites had caused "immediate death".

From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026

"Pre-mortem dingo bite marks are not likely to have caused immediate death," said a spokesperson for the Coroners Court of Queensland.

From Barron's ● Jan. 28, 2026

Altadena was where people raised chickens before it was trendy, where no one batted an eye at the neighbors with a pet dingo, or thought much about the so-called haunted road said to defy gravity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2026

It's said that a dog is a man's best friend, but the wild dingo is much maligned in Australia.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 20, 2023

The dingo reached Australia at the peak of the Austronesian expansion from South China through Indonesia.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

The remains came from both native and introduced animals, including cows, kangaroos, emus, sheep, pigs, dingoes, rabbits, possums, quolls and swamp rats.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026

The traditional owners of K'gari, the Butchulla people, said the state's failure to consult with them before euthanising the dingoes -- or wongari in their language -- was "unexpected and disappointing".

From Barron's ● Jan. 28, 2026

A Canadian backpacker, who was found dead on an Australian beach and surrounded by a pack of dingoes earlier this week, likely died of drowning, an autopsy has found.

From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2026

They’re threatened by conflict with humans, dogs and dingoes and a disease called Devil Facial Tumor Disease that only affects the species.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2025

There was talk of wild cats of hitherto unheard-of size and fierceness, and of dingoes having suggestions about them of the untameably fierce marsupial wolf of Tasmania.

From Finn The Wolfhound by Robert Hugh Buxton

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