dud
[duhd]
- a device, person, or enterprise that proves to be a failure.
- a shell or missile that fails to explode after being fired.
Show More
Origin of dud
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comduds
[duhdz]
- clothes, especially a suit of clothes.
- belongings in general.
Show More
Origin of duds
1275–1325; Middle English dudde; perhaps akin to Low German dudel coarse sackcloth
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for dud
Contemporary Examples
His clothing line that his friend described as “upscale and urban” was a dud.
The Hollywood Reporter said the film was a dud, but Holmes plays neatly against type.
She turns in dud stories, misses deadlines, and is prone to occasionally sleeping with her young, struggling musician sources.
Toni Collette on ‘The Realistic Joneses,’‘Lucky Them,’ and Crying in ‘The Sixth Sense’Melissa Leon
June 1, 2014
The prank itself seems meaningless, and the reaction was un-extraordinary: all in all, a dud.
An Analysis of Vitalii Sediuk’s Pranks (He’s the Guy Who Touched Brad Pitt)Amy Zimmerman
May 29, 2014
Reviews seemed to range a short spectrum between turnip (a dud, in the French parlance) and not-a-complete-turnip.
Historical Examples
For a time it seemed as though Brent's bombshell had been a dud.
Ten From InfinityPaul W. Fairman
Let's get busy—we're altogether too close to that dud there to suit me.
The Skylark of SpaceEdward Elmer Smith and Lee Hawkins Garby
But to Dud this thrilling adventure left no pleasant memories.
KillykinickMary T. Waggaman
The motor boat Jim and Dud had hired for the season was stove in upon the rocks.
KillykinickMary T. Waggaman
It was Dud who had been swept over into those foaming, seething depths.
KillykinickMary T. Waggaman
dud
- a person or thing that proves ineffectual or a failure
- a shell, etc, that fails to explode
- (plural) old-fashioned clothes or other personal belongings
Show More
- failing in its purpose or functiona dud cheque
Show More
Word Origin
C15 (in the sense: an article of clothing, a thing, used disparagingly): of unknown origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for dud
n.
c.1825, "person in ragged clothing," from duds (q.v.). Sense extended by 1897 to "counterfeit thing," and 1908 to "useless, inefficient person or thing." This led naturally in World War I to "shell which fails to explode," and thence to "expensive failure."
Show More
duds
n.
c.1300, dudde "cloak, mantle," later in plural, "ragged clothing" (1560s), of uncertain origin.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper