dad

¹

[ dad ]

noun

1. a person’s father or one’s father.
2. a person who is corny or embarrassing in the way that a father figure might be:

   He was being such a dad when he told that story.

3. a term of endearment used to refer to a man or boy who is admired:

   A bunch of teens commented “HI DAD!” on the rapper’s post.

adjective

1. corny or embarrassing in the way that a father figure might be: the most dad story ever.

   a dad joke;

   the most dad story ever.

2. handsome or stylish; amazing; to be admired:

   Those shoes are totally dad.

verb (used with object)

1. to act as a father toward; act paternally toward:

   Stop dadding me about my grades!

2. to refer to (an admired man or boy) as “dad”:

   My friends dad me whenever I look good.

verb (used without object)

1. to perform the tasks or duties of a male parent; act paternally:

   He dads like a champ.

2. to refer to an admired man or boy as “dad”:

   They dad whenever a new photo pops up on their feeds.

dad

²

[ dad ]

interjection

, Informal.

1. God (used in combination in mild oaths):

   dad-blamed; dad-gummed.

dad

³

[ dad ]

noun

, Scot. and North England.

1. a solid blow or knock.
2. a large slice, lump, or portion.

ḍad

⁴

[ dahd ]

noun

1. the 15th letter of the Arabic alphabet.

dad

/ dæd /

noun

1. an informal word for father

Word History and Origins

Origin of dad¹

First recorded in 1530–40; probably originally baby talk dah-dah

Origin of dad²

First recorded in 1670–80; euphemism for God; Gad ¹( def )

Origin of dad³

First recorded in 1710–20; probably variant of dab ¹

Origin of dad⁴

From Arabic

Word History and Origins

Origin of dad¹

C16: childish word; compare Greek tata, Sanskrit tatas

Example Sentences

“It’s so powerful in the show when the dad just tells his son that, yes, he does get afraid,” said Hanggi.

From Los Angeles Times

The junior quarterback spoke about how his dad’s summer practices prepared him — and the Panthers — for this moment, down 7-3 at halftime.

From Los Angeles Times

Following the song’s debut, McGraw said: “This little 5-year-old blond girl came up and kind of tugged on my shirt and said, you know, ‘You just sang a song about my dad, didn’t you?’

From Los Angeles Times

Lawrence has had a tough time at school — he’s not popular and his dad’s death a few years before has left him and his mother suspended in a state of grief.

From New York Times

I’m glad my dad didn’t live to see it.

From Salon

Related Words

• old man
• papa
• parent