tad

¹ American  

[tad] / tæd /

noun

Informal.

1. a small child, especially a boy.

2. a very small amount or degree; bit.

   Please shift your chair a tad to the right. The frosting could use a tad more vanilla.

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Tad ² American  

[tad] / tæd /

noun

1. a male given name, form of Thaddeus or Theodore.

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tad British  

/ tæd /

noun

1. a small boy; lad

2. a small bit or piece

3. a little; rather

   she may be a tad short but she got a top modelling job

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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

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

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

Connected-fitness subscriptions declined 7.4% to 2.661 million, a tad below expectations of 2.664 million, and the lowest number since the quarter ending September 2021.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 5, 2026

Today it’s around 10, which makes gold a tad expensive compared with stocks.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 3, 2026

Sculptors can do wonderful things, making people a tad more handsome and muscly.

From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin

Related Words

• babe
• chick
• child
• kid
• toddler
• youngster