dude

American  

[dood, dyood] / dud, djud /

noun

• dudes
  plural

1. a man excessively concerned with his clothes, grooming, and manners.

2. Slang

   1. a fellow; chap.

   2. (a general term of address used to a man, woman, or group).

3. a person reared in a large city.

4. Western U.S. an urban Easterner who vacations on a ranch.

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interjection

1. Slang (an expression of shock, approval, sympathy, or other strong feeling).

   Dude! That's one expensive sandwich!

verb phrase

1. dude up to dress in one's fanciest, best, or most stylish clothes; dress up.

   He got all duded up to go to the dance.

dude British  

/ duːd, djuːd /

noun

1. a city dweller, esp one holidaying on a ranch

2. a dandy

3. a person: often used to any male in direct address

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• dudish
  adjective
• dudishly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• dudes
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of dude

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; origin uncertain

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Explanation

Dude is a slang greeting term between men, meaning "guy" or "man." For example: "Dude! So, like, what's up?" It's been popularized by movies and TV shows, and has a distinctive whiff of American West Coast hippie culture to it. In the American nineteenth century dude had another life as a term for a dandy — a particularly well-groomed and fancily-dressed young man. From this came the term of dude as meaning a big city dweller unfamiliar with the ways of the Wild West. When such types came out West to enjoy the rugged life, they stayed in "dude ranches," basically resorts or spas, not real working ranches, and the term is still around today.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dude dudes

In decades past, some greasy label dude would probably tell them to go write a real hit next.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Williams says Sir Gary Oldman is a "pretty cool dude"

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

It taps into humanity’s most ancient, addictive comedic truth, which is that some dude getting hit in the balls is hilarious.

From Slate ● Sep. 27, 2026

“You know, from outside, this looks like ‘This dude running for a U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

Antwan turned into a different kind of dude once he started high school this year, and Sneaky’s mom is always fussing with him about who he hangs out with and how he treats Sneaky.

From "Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero" by Kelly J. Baptist

Shorter version of the problem: Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz exist, and playing those two dudes is hell on Earth for everyone, including Djokovic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026

Trump and Sean “Diddy” Combs have been known acquaintances for years—or whatever it’s called when two rich and famous dudes in entertainment are often invited to the same charity events, galas, and afterparties.

From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026

Referring to the synthetic soldier, Justine Moore, an AI-focused partner at Silicon Valley investor Andreessen Horowitz, wrote on X: "I'm genuinely floored by how many dudes are following influencers that are clearly AI."

From Barron's ● May 10, 2026

A low-loader, some traffic cones and "the sort of dudes who can set up a Metallica concert in 24 hours" - this was all Banksy needed to install his latest artwork in central London.

From BBC ● May 1, 2026

“So Mapplethorpe gave these dudes a kind of noir feel, right? Well, I want to do that with dude-like things. Cray-Cray's shed seems like the most badass dude-cave at the whole school.”

From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely

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Related Words

• buddy
• chap
• fellow

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