tad
noun
a small child, especially a boy.
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:
Is Kimi Antonelli being overhyped due to results that largely he's been a tad fortunate with?
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026
Americans have spent a tad less on electricity as a percentage of all their spending in recent years.
From MarketWatch ● May 18, 2026
Headline CPI rose 2.4% last month from a year earlier, matching January’s annual pace and coming in a tad lower than economists’ forecasts.
From Barron's ● Mar. 11, 2026
Investors might be a tad disappointed by the absence of a special dividend, even if the ordinary dividend was hiked substantially, he adds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026
“Don’t worry—the security there is a tad unorthodox, but you will be just as safe there as you are here.”
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
Thayil brings the reader with him as he experiences learning about Kurt Cobain’s death while on the road in Europe with Tad, another band from the Seattle scene.
From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2026
Tad Heuer, representing the National Trust for Historic Preservation, urged the court to halt the ballroom project.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
On Friday, an anonymous collector who goes by Cozomo de’ Medici announced on X that he’d bought two of the dogs, Picasso and Warhol, and former Sotheby’s chief executive Tad Smith bought an “Elon.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
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
Abraham and Mary are pictured with sons Robert, Willie, and Tad.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
One day Estes, Robert and some other tads were swimming in the nearby Tellico River.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
It's funny to watch the little tads grow up and pair off and see how bravely they try to keep in the swim.
From In Our Town by Gruger, Frederic Rodrigo
But wasn't it a good time, Long Time Ago— When we all were little tads And first played "Show"!
From The Book of Joyous Children by Vawter, Will
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.
