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• tad
  tad

  noun

  a small child, especially a boy.
• Tad
  Tad

  noun

  a male given name, form of Thaddeus or Theodore.

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

He does so carefully, and perhaps a tad too slowly.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 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

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

Elsewhere, the headline numbers were a tad disappointing with small misses in its P&C and L&H businesses and net income that was 1% worse than expected, they add.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026

Katherine says, her voice a tad too bright.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland

Related Words

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