tad
noun
a small child, especially a boy.
tad
1 American
[tad]
/ tæd /
noun
Informal.
-
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
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.
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
While for AST SpaceMobile, Sunday’s launch was a failure, for the Bezos-owned Blue Origin, things look a tad brighter.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 20, 2026
He has the confidence to only dress up his new dystopia a tad, letting the scale of the oppression creep up on you when, say, an açaí bowl salesman casually asks Tereza for her papers.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026
He was a tad, distinguished-looking person dressed in green, and he carried a seven-foot bow.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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.
