dummy

American  

[duhm-ee] / ˈdʌm i /

noun

• dummies
  plural

1. an imitation, representation, or copy of something, such as for display, testing, or use as a stage prop.

   On the counter was a display of lipstick dummies made of colored plastic.

   This slide presentation is just a dummy to try out the template I made.

2. a representation of a human figure for displaying or fitting clothes; mannequin.

   When I put the dress on the dummy to pin the hem, I saw a few spots where it wasn't quite symmetrical.

3. Informal. a stupid person; dolt.

   Only a dummy would fall for that scam.

4. a person who has nothing to say or who takes no active part in affairs.

   I was on the board only as a dummy, signing what the other directors told me to.

5. someone or something put forward with the appearance of acting independently while secretly acting for people who do not appear to be involved.

   The property deed was in her name, but she was only a dummy for a labor trafficking ring.

6. Slang.

   1. Older Use: Offensive. a person who is not able to speak.

   2. a person who is characteristically and habitually silent.

7. Bridge.

   1. the declarer's partner, whose hand is exposed and played by the declarer.

   2. the hand of cards so exposed.

   3. a game so played.

   4. an imaginary player represented by an exposed hand that is played by and serves as partner to one of the players.

8. Chiefly British. pacifier.

9. Printing. sheets folded and made up to show the size, shape, form, sequence, and general style of a contemplated piece of printing.

   We’ll be using better quality paper than you see in this dummy.

10. a rammer for pushing out dents in lead pipe.

11. Computers. an artificial address, instruction, or other piece of data fed into a computer only to fulfill prescribed conditions and not affecting operations for solving problems.

12. Military. a nonexplosive bomb used for practice exercises.

13. Sports. a completed or feigned throw, pass, shot, etc., intended to mislead an opponent (also used attributively).

    He threw a dummy to shake off his blocker and create just enough space to fire a shot into the net.

    The defending player was completely sidetracked by the dummy pass, allowing us to score.

14. Dentistry. pontic.

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adjective

1. being or relating to an imitation, representation, or copy.

   Some businesses use dummy cameras along with a few live ones to deter thieves.

2. performed as a trial or practice run.

   We played a dummy round to learn the rules of the game without counting points.

3. counterfeit; sham; fictitious.

   One group in the study took one tablet of the drug daily, while the other group was given dummy pills.

   He created a few dummy friends on his page to make it look like he had more.

4. put forward or set up with the appearance of acting independently while secretly acting for people who do not appear to be involved.

   Two city councilors formed a dummy construction company so they could pay themselves inflated prices for the work done.

5. Cards. played with a partner whose hand is exposed.

verb (used with object)

• dummies,
  present (3rd person singular)
• dummied,
  past participle,  past
• dummying
  present participle

1. Printing. to prepare a blank or empty test copy of (often followed byup ).

   The designer dummied up the book so we could study the format.

2. to represent in a test copy or version (often followed byin ).

   We dummied in a few illustrations to show the proposed layout for the homepage.

3. Sports.

   1. to pretend to make or receive (a throw, pass, etc.) in order to mislead one’s opponent.

      The forward dummied the free kick before it reached his teammate, who immediately scored.

   2. to mislead (an opponent) in this way.

      She dummied her tackler before firing a low shot past the defense.

verb (used without object)

• dummies,
  present (3rd person singular)
• dummied,
  past participle,  past
• dummying
  present participle

1. Sports. to pretend to make or receive a throw, pass, etc..

   He dummied and then threw to another player.

verb phrase

1. dummy up to keep silent; refuse to answer.

   If anybody asks you, just dummy up.

dummy British  

/ ˈdʌmɪ /

noun

1. a figure representing the human form, used for displaying clothes, in a ventriloquist's act, as a target, etc

2. 1. a copy or imitation of an object, often lacking some essential feature of the original

   2. ( as modifier )

      a dummy drawer

3. slang a stupid person; fool

4. derogatory a person without the power of speech; mute

5. informal a person who says or does nothing

6. 1. a person who appears to act for himself while acting on behalf of another

   2. ( as modifier )

      a dummy buyer

7. military a weighted round without explosives, used in drill and training

8. bridge

   1. the hand exposed on the table by the declarer's partner and played by the declarer

   2. the declarer's partner

9. 1. a prototype of a proposed book, indicating the general appearance and dimensions of the finished product

   2. a designer's layout of a page indicating the positions for illustrations, etc

10. a feigned pass or move in a sport such as football or rugby

11. US and Canadian equivalent: pacifier.  a rubber teat for babies to suck or bite on

12. (modifier) counterfeit; sham

13. (modifier) (of a card game) played with one hand exposed or unplayed

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verb

1. to prepare a dummy of (a proposed book, page, etc)

2. Also: sell someone a dummy.  sport to use a dummy pass in order to trick (an opponent)

dummy Cultural  

1. In a corporation, one who stands in for a real director or who serves as a nominal director during the organization of the corporation until the stockholders can elect directors.

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Sensitive Note

See dumb.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• dummies
  plural

Participles

• dummying
  present
• dummied
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• dummy
  simple
• dummies
  simple
• have dummied
  perfect
• has dummied
  perfect
• am dummying
  progressive
• are dummying
  progressive
• is dummying
  progressive
• have been dummying
  perfect progressive
• has been dummying
  perfect progressive

Past

• dummied
  simple
• had dummied
  perfect
• was dummying
  progressive
• were dummying
  progressive
• had been dummying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will dummy
  simple
• will have dummied
  perfect
• will be dummying
  progressive
• will have been dummying
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of dummy

First recorded in 1590–1600; 1915–20, dummy for def. 24; dumb + -y ³

Explanation

Have you ever seen an entertainer make a doll look like it’s talking? The entertainer is using a dummy — a doll made to look like a person. A dummy is a type of doll that looks like a person. Entertainers called ventriloquists can make dummies appear to talk. The automobile industry uses dummies in cars to study how safe cars are during a crash. A dummy can also be anything that looks real but doesn’t work: a fake. Actors in a play might use certain props that are dummies, such as a dummy laptop. Dummy is also an insult used to mean “an ignorant person.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dummy dummies dummied dummying

It’s a pixelated image of the ventriloquist dummy actor Bill Murray uses in the film.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

A Chinese submarine test-fired a missile carrying a dummy warhead on Monday, with monitors saying the rocket appeared to land in a patch of ocean somewhere between Solomon Islands, Nauru and Tuvalu.

From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026

Prosecutors say Ying brought a dummy manuscript back to the library after stealing the real one.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

"My job is to fire footballs at test dummy heads and see what happens"

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026

It was time to turn the big dummy loose.

From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen

His decades of painstaking research helped lead to a push in the 1990s for the Air Force to come clean on what it had been doing: testing spy balloons and recovering crash dummies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2026

These people are craven dummies, but they do make up a good swath of Canada’s eligible voters.

From Slate ● Apr. 29, 2025

During Glastonbury, he set out a blow-up boat, filled with dummies in lifejackets, during a set from Bristol-based post-punk band Idles.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2024

Baldwin’s team asserted it was Kenney who co-mingled real bullets with dummies — an allegation that Kenney has denied, including while testifying Friday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2024

The maneuvers were simply drills; the nuclear warheads that KGB agents had spied being loaded onto B-52s were dummies.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau

Bellingham rounded the goalkeeper to net in the 80th minute after Dean Huijsen cleverly dummied Valverde's pass.

From Barron's ● Jan. 20, 2026

It got better for the tourists when Ringrose made a half-break, dummied and then passed to Smith, who grubbered cleverly.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2025

In training he tossed around a rugby ball and dummied past England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick.

From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2024

Russell missed the conversion but showed his class as he dummied his way through the Cardiff defence before his long pass was collected by Will Muir who passed on to Lawrence to score.

From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2023

Hamilton dummied for the inside at Turn One with seven laps to go and Norris defended with a late move.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2023

But half a lap later, Norris went for the position again into Turn 12, dummying Leclerc and this time making the move stick.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2025

But there were also patient, one- or two-pass attacks, scrum-half Mike Petri prompting and MacGinty darting and dummying.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 5, 2015

Unsurprisingly, given the season he has had so far, Ricciardo won it, with two breathtaking moves on Perez and Vettel, dummying both into the second chicane.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2014

A move started by Luke Eves's break ended with Jeremy Manning dummying over.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 7, 2010

When the immediate advent of selectors to a run became probable, the lessees endeavoured to circumvent them by dummying all the positions which offered the best means of blocking the selectors from getting to water.

From Austral English A dictionary of Australasian words, phrases and usages with those aboriginal-Australian and Maori words which have become incorporated in the language, and the commoner scientific words that have had their origin in Australasia by Edward Ellis Morris

Related Words

• idiot