dodo

American  

[doh-doh] / ˈdoʊ doʊ /

noun

plural

dodos, dodoes

1. any of several clumsy, flightless, extinct birds of the genera Raphus and Pezophaps, related to pigeons but about the size of a turkey, formerly inhabiting the islands of Mauritius, Réunion, and Rodriguez.

2. Slang. a dull-witted, slow-reacting person.

3. a person with old-fashioned, conservative, or outmoded ideas.

4. a thing that is outmoded or obsolete.

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dodo British  

/ ˈdəʊdəʊ /

noun

1. any flightless bird, esp Raphus cucullatus, of the recently extinct family Raphidae of Mauritius and adjacent islands: order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc). They had a hooked bill, short stout legs, and greyish plumage See also ratite

2. informal an intensely conservative or reactionary person who is unaware of changing fashions, ideas, etc

3. (of a person or thing) irretrievably defunct or out of date

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dodo Idioms  

1. see under dead as a doornail.

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Other Word Forms

• dodoism
  noun

Etymology

Origin of dodo

First recorded in 1620–30, dodo is from the Portuguese word doudo, fool, madman (of uncertain origin); the bird apparently so called from its clumsy appearance

Example Sentences

The company’s other de-extinction hopes include reviving the woolly mammoth, the dodo, and the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2025

The Hall of Extinction and Hope analogizes manmade climate change and habitat destruction to a slow-moving asteroid that has already obliterated species such as the passenger pigeon, dodo and great auk.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2025

Patience, of course, is as rare as the dodo bird on the Govan Road.

From BBC • Jan. 23, 2025

Homo sapiens is no more; we disappear just like the dinosaurs and dodo before us, and this remains the case forever.

From Salon • Jun. 11, 2023

Yeah, so did the dodo bird, the passenger pigeon, Vanilla Ice...

From "Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie" by Jordan Sonnenblick

Related Words

• clodpoll