dodo

[ doh-doh ]

noun

, plural do·dos, do·does.

1. any of several clumsy, flightless, extinct birds of the genera Raphus and Pezophaps, related to pigeons but about the size of a turkey, formerly inhabiting the islands of Mauritius, Réunion, and Rodriguez.
2. Slang. a dull-witted, slow-reacting person.
3. a person with old-fashioned, conservative, or outmoded ideas.
4. a thing that is outmoded or obsolete.

dodo

/ ˈdəʊdəʊ /

noun

1. any flightless bird, esp Raphus cucullatus, of the recently extinct family Raphidae of Mauritius and adjacent islands: order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc). They had a hooked bill, short stout legs, and greyish plumage See also ratite
2. informal.
   an intensely conservative or reactionary person who is unaware of changing fashions, ideas, etc
3. (as) dead as a dodo
   (of a person or thing) irretrievably defunct or out of date

Derived Forms

• ˈdodoism, noun

Other Words From

• dodo·ism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of dodo¹

First recorded in 1620–30, dodo is from the Portuguese word doudo, fool, madman (of uncertain origin); the bird apparently so called from its clumsy appearance

Word History and Origins

Origin of dodo¹

C17: from Portuguese doudo, from doudo stupid

Idioms and Phrases

see under dead as a doornail .

Example Sentences

Boned up, flagged hard and started to cross when my fingers snapped off the edge and I plunged through the gulf, arms whirling, machine-gunning expletives, ungainly as a dodo bird.

From Outside Online

His project explored the idea of whether it would be possible to recreate the dodo bird.

From Science News For Students

Pitcher wins have rightly gone the way of the dodo over the past decade, and seasons like the ones deGrom had are a great case study in why.

From FiveThirtyEight

The push to prevent extinctions from happening came in the 1800s, with the realization that species such as the dodo had disappeared forever.

From Science News

In my Monday column I noted that the hand-cranked eggbeater seems to have gone the way of the dodo.

From Washington Post

As David Quammen described in his elegiac The Song of the Dodo, islands are “where species go to die.”

From The Daily Beast

Republicans are going the way of the dodo in the Golden State.

From The Daily Beast

Since the Cold War, Kissingerians have largely gone the way of the dodo bird inside the GOP.

From The Daily Beast

Ever the optimist, Crystal believes that languages need not meet the fate of the dodo bird.

From The Daily Beast

"Paul did it," accused Dodo, waving a pudgy, ink-stained little fist in the direction of her brother.

From Project Gutenberg

And, as you might like to try the thing yourself, some winter day, I will tell you how the Dodo managed it.

From Project Gutenberg

However, when they had been running half an hour or so, and were quite dry again, the Dodo suddenly called out 'The race is over!'

From Project Gutenberg

When that day comes, proprietary humbugs like Sanatogen will have become as extinct as the dodo and the great auk.

From Project Gutenberg

Ultimately, Torkington sailed in a new ship of 800 tons,5 under a patron named Thomas Dodo.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• clodpoll