tad
noun
a small child, especially a boy.
Showing results for tad.
Search instead for
t-d.
tad
1 American
[tad]
/ tæd /
noun
Informal.
-
tads
plural
-
a small child, especially a boy.
-
a very small amount or degree; bit.
Please shift your chair a tad to the right. The frosting could use a tad more vanilla.
Tad
2
American
[tad]
/ tæd /
noun
tad
British
/ tæd /
noun
-
a small boy; lad
-
a small bit or piece
-
a little; rather
she may be a tad short but she got a top modelling job
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of tad
1875–80, tad for def. 1; 1935–40, tad for def. 2; perhaps shortening of tadpole
Explanation
A tad is a very small amount, so if a recipe calls for a tad of hot pepper, it's not a good idea to dump in the whole bottle. The informal noun or adverb tad is useful when you want another way to say "a bit" or "a smidge." If you stumble over one of your lines in the school play, you might be just a tad embarrassed, but if you fall in the middle of your big scene and pull the curtain down with you, you'll feel more than a tad humiliated. Before it meant "small amount," tad meant "young child."
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:
Americans have spent a tad less on electricity as a percentage of all their spending in recent years.
From MarketWatch ● May 18, 2026
Can’t wait to see what Smith wears on the big day — hopefully it will be a tad less weighty.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
Its target rises a tad to A$13.55 from A$13.50.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
The crash in the race wasn't his fault but perhaps he could have judged his overspeed a tad better - easy for me to say.
From BBC ● Mar. 29, 2026
To my horror, the Plant began to look a tad wilted on our journey.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
Before Sen. Bernie Sanders launched his 2016 presidential campaign, he yelled at Tad Devine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Tad Heuer, representing the National Trust for Historic Preservation, urged the court to halt the ballroom project.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
It’s a lot like the ‘00s comedy, “Win A Date With Tad Hamilton!” except nobody is self-aware about the weird vibes.
From Salon ● Oct. 29, 2024
Donations came from the WhatsApp founder Jan Koum, the WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg, and the philanthropists Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock and Tad and Dianne Taube, among others.
From New York Times ● May 2, 2024
Tad hurried onto the front walk and down the street, hoping his brother’s crappy music covered the sound of his leaving.
From "Time Bomb" by Joelle Charbonneau
For my tads, the educational materials include a 2-ft. sign joyously inscribed MOMMY.
From Time Magazine Archive
That clocking would have rated Weissmuller nothing but a spectator's seat at last week's National A.A.U. championships in Lincoln, Neb., where tads the size of his beloved Cheetah smashed five world and eleven meet records.
From Time Magazine Archive
One day Estes, Robert and some other tads were swimming in the nearby Tellico River.
From Time Magazine Archive
There are twelve little tads in the room, and they are awful good when you think that they are sick.
From Living Up to Billy by Elizabeth Cooper
My brother the sailor was a pet of mine when we were little tads and he'd sent Ginger to me when he was dying.
From Anne of Avonlea by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery
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.
