noun
-
a person or thing that proves ineffectual or a failure
-
a shell, etc, that fails to explode
-
old-fashioned (plural) clothes or other personal belongings
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Essential Three-Letter Words, Part 3
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Scrabble: Palindrome Words
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Arellano: Will the Third Bass-Raman debate be a classic — or a dud?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
To no one’s surprise, it was a dud.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026
But no, we can confidently report that the Great American State Fair is a big ol’ dud.
From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026
Another dud: $125 million authorized in 2022 for Gotion to build an electric-vehicle battery plant employing 2,350 people that was never built.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
‘I love Lucifer’ it was in those days. dud: What was it like up in heaven? devil Heh heh.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
Comic actors have a sense of timing and an ability to ad-lib when the teleprompter spits out duds, as John Mulaney proved with his inspired rant about masculinity when he presented.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026
Costume designer Maya Edmond dresses Big Ant thematically: white tees when he’s trying to be good, black duds when his demons are winning and comic book-y jailbird stripes during his pivotal teenage arrest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
Lucasfilm was hit-and-miss under Kennedy—for every Star Wars success story like The Force Awakens, there were duds like Solo, a spinoff that focuses on original trilogy icon Han Solo.
From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026
As flying opened up to the masses and air travel became more routine than adventurous, a downgrade in duds followed—mimicking broader shifts in fashions but also a downgrade in the experience.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 14, 2026
“Makes sense to me,” said Aunt Pretty, folding up my new duds.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
