noun
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a person or thing that proves ineffectual or a failure
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a shell, etc, that fails to explode
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old-fashioned (plural) clothes or other personal belongings
adjective
Etymology
Origin of dud
1815–25; special use of dud, singular of duds
Explanation
Something that doesn't work the way it's supposed to is a dud. A bomb or firework that doesn't explode is one kind of dud. A bad blind date is another kind. When a bomb fails to explode, it's a dud. A long-planned surprise party that fails miserably when the guest of honor doesn't show up is another kind of dud. You can also refer to a person as a dud, if they're an utter failure or a complete flop: "The lead actor was a total dud. He couldn't really sing or dance and he seemed nervous." In the 1800s, a dud was "a person in ragged clothing," from dudde, "cloak or mantle."
Vocabulary lists containing dud
Back-Words: Palindromes
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Essential Three-Letter Words, Part 3
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Scrabble: Palindrome Words
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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.
The message is muddled and soft, like a Milk Dud at the bottom of the box, and the movie chews on it for quite a while.
From New York Times • Dec. 8, 2022
The group delayed the move until Dud Lastrapes took office, then got a permanent court order forbidding any move unless it was needed for road work or the land was sold, The Advertiser has reported.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 17, 2021
Navalny told YouTube interviewer Yuri Dud that Yulia had helped him recover from hallucinations.
From BBC • Feb. 13, 2021
His seeking eventually leads him to the doorstep of Lodge 49, a not-so-secret fraternal society that appeals to Dud on two levels.
From Salon • Nov. 3, 2020
He has persuaded Dud not just to sympathize with, but actually to inhabit his position.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
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.
