Dutch uncle

American  

noun

Sometimes Offensive.

1. a person who criticizes or reproves with unsparing severity and frankness.

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Dutch uncle British  

noun

1. informal a person who criticizes or reproves frankly and severely

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Dutch uncle Idioms  

1. A stern, candid critic or adviser, as in When I got in trouble with the teacher again, the principal talked to me like a Dutch uncle. This expression, often put as talk to one like a Dutch uncle, presumably alludes to the sternness and sobriety attributed to the Dutch. [Early 1800s]

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Sensitive Note

Because Dutch is used here to describe someone manifesting the opposite of warm, affectionate, typically avuncular behavior, this term is sometimes perceived as insulting to or by the Dutch. See also Dutch.

Etymology

Origin of Dutch uncle

First recorded in 1820–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Dutch uncle

Fresh from reputedly lecturing King Carol of Rumania for two hours like a Dutch uncle, M. Barthou wisely did not take that tone with King Alexander.

From Time Magazine Archive

Economist Milton Gilbert, not only commands enormous respect among moneymen but often talks like a Dutch uncle to errant governments.

From Time Magazine Archive

Last week the highly respected Henry Kaufman, a partner in Salomon Bros, who often serves as Wall Street's Dutch uncle, called for the declaration of a "national economic emergency."

From Time Magazine Archive

Last week 69-year-old Jonkheer Dirk Jan de Geer, leader of The Netherlands' Christian Historical Party, talked like a Dutch uncle to his parliamentary colleagues.

From Time Magazine Archive

He can talk it like a Dutch uncle; I can’t.”

From A Veldt Official A Novel of Circumstance by Mitford, Bertram