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View synonyms for how do you do

how do you do

1

interjection

  1. (used as a conventional greeting.)


how-do-you-do

2

[ hou-duh-yuh-doo ]

noun

, Informal.
, plural how-do-you-dos.
  1. a greeting; salutation:

    She smiled and gave him a how-do-you-do fit for a king.

  2. an awkward or unpleasant event or situation:

    It's a fine how-do-you-do that they've refused to help us out.

how do you do

sentence substitute

  1. Alsohow do?how d'ye do? a formal greeting said by people who are being introduced to each other or are meeting for the first time
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


noun

  1. informal.
    a difficult situation
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of how do you do1

First recorded in 1625–35
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Idioms and Phrases

A conventional greeting used mostly after being introduced to someone, as in And this is our youngest—say “How do you do” to Mr. Smith . Although it is a question, it requires no reply. Originally, in the 1600s, this expression was an inquiry after a person's health or standing, how do you do meaning “how do you fare?” Today we usually express this as How are you ? or How are you doing ? or How goes it ? or How's it going ? Even more general are the slangy locutions How are things ? or How's tricks ? All of these greetings date from the first half of the 1900s.
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Example Sentences

She tried the direct, how-do-you-do handshake approach, but was blocked by a burly aide-de-camp.

Then he of Clusium would flutter and say, How-do-you-do, in squeaky crow tones.

Dinah Oh, Mr. Pim, you mustn't run away without even saying how-do-you-do!

The idea of going right into the pantry without a how-do-you-do 21 or a by-your-leave!

Do you people down there still keep up that tiresome business of 'how-do-you-do' and 'good-bye'?

The children of the ranchman called the birds the 'how-do-you-do owls,' from the way they bow their heads as people pass.

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Related Words

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.

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how does that grab you?howdy