dodger
Americannoun
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a person who dodges.
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a shifty person, especially one who persistently evades a responsibility, as specified.
tax dodger; draft dodger.
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a leafhopper.
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a small handbill; throwaway.
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Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. corn dodger.
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Nautical. a shield, as of canvas, erected on a flying bridge to protect persons on watch from wind, flying spray, etc.
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Australian. a large slice, lump, or portion of food, especially of bread.
noun
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a person who evades or shirks
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a shifty dishonest person
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a canvas shelter, mounted on a ship's bridge or over the companionway of a sailing yacht to protect the helmsman from bad weather
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archaic a handbill
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informal food, esp bread
Etymology
Origin of dodger
Explanation
A dodger is a rascally, sneaky person who lies and tricks their way out of responsibilities or obligations. A tax dodger, for example, schemes to avoid paying taxes. There are many kinds of dodgers — from fare dodgers who jump the subway turnstile rather than pay the fare, to draft dodgers who snuck to Canada during the Vietnam War, to avoid being drafted by the Army. The most famous dodger is probably the character in Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist" known as The Artful Dodger, a skilled and savvy pickpocket. In the eighteenth century, it was common to use the word dodge to mean "swindle" or "play shifting tricks."
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.
A "brazen" rail fare dodger has been fined more than £3,600 after failing to pay for a ticket on over a hundred journeys.
From BBC • Feb. 11, 2026
Park has been living in the country as what the military authorities consider a draft dodger.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2025
Though he was sometimes labeled a draft dodger, he was very much the opposite.
From New York Times • Feb. 7, 2023
Moreover, as Risen documents, it established this son of a wealthy Civil War draft dodger as the embodiment of America’s emergence as a world power.
From Washington Post • Jul. 18, 2019
After calling in sick, he hopped into his newly purchased car and drove off to meet his friend Bill Wernecke, a fervent Nazi supporter and an expert draft dodger.
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
Definitions 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.
