cad

¹ American  

[kad] / kæd /

noun

1. an ill-bred man, especially one who behaves in a dishonorable or irresponsible way toward women.

   Synonyms:

   heel, rogue, rascal, rotter, bounder

2. British Archaic.

   1. a local town boy or youth, as contrasted with a university or public school student.

   2. a servant at a university or public school.

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CAD ² American  

[kad] / kæd /

noun

1. computer-aided design.

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CAD ¹ British  

acronym

1. computer-aided design

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cad ² British  

/ kæd /

noun

1. informal a man who does not behave in a gentlemanly manner towards others

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Other Word Forms

• caddish adjective

Etymology

Origin of cad

First recorded in 1780–90; short for caddie (in the sense “a person who runs errands and does odd jobs”)

Explanation

A cad is a man who is not gentlemanly or honorable, especially toward a woman. He asked the waitress for her phone number and left you with the check? That cad! Also known as a rake, a scoundrel, a rascal, or a heel, a cad is not a guy you want to be around too long. The word cad came from the word cadet, meaning a "servant." Later cad came to be a derogatory term used by students at British universities, referring to boys from local towns. Don’t confuse the word cad with the acronym CAD, meaning "computer-aided design."

Example Sentences

That Belmondo morphs from appealing photojournalist to unlikable sexual cad while the picture’s ostensible star—Claude Brasseur as an inadvertent cop killer—disappears for long stretches does the picture no favors.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 21, 2026

He and Evans never find their groove, and while Evans’ Boston-accented deadbeat cad routine is rote for him at this point, Johnson feels adrift, never locking in to a specific tone.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 13, 2024

The underdog here is Mark Ruffalo, whose comic turn as the cad Duncan Wedderburn in "Poor Things."

From Salon • Mar. 7, 2024

In the past, words or phrases deemed to have stepped over the line include "impertinent dog", "cad", "blethering", "guttersnipe" and "git".

From BBC • Dec. 29, 2023

He was a swindler, a welsher, a cad, and a rogue.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith