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
Brunson embodies Knicks fans as they see themselves: confident, gritty, crafty, a tad disrespected, good in a jam.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
The dollar index DXY is a tad higher, while gold futures GC00 are trading around $4.670 an ounce.
From MarketWatch ● May 11, 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
A car heading into the slippery curve a tad too fast.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
In a largely friendly 2016 profile in the New Yorker, Tad Friend wrote that “Altman’s great strengths are clarity of thought and an intuitive grasp of complex systems.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
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
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
The eyes that Frankie had found mysterious and intriguing were narrowed as Tad zeroed in on him.
From "Time Bomb" by Joelle Charbonneau
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
For my tads, the educational materials include a 2-ft. sign joyously inscribed MOMMY.
From Time Magazine Archive
One day Estes, Robert and some other tads were swimming in the nearby Tellico River.
From Time Magazine Archive
Each held a pure culture of Redfins, and I found that this was no accident, but aided and enforced by the tads themselves.
From Edge of the Jungle by William Beebe
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 Frederic Rodrigo Gruger
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
