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

“Dad farmed 50 years ago,” Anna said.

From New York Times

It sounds harsh — we know there’s a natural separation process where teenagers challenge things, but I love that I’ve gained this perspective of “Was my dad a d— or maybe I was a d—?” Maybe it’s kind of basic, but that’s something that’s universal.

From Los Angeles Times

I would say that my dad was unnecessarily annoyed by some of my behavior.

From Los Angeles Times

And they brought their shockingly successful hard seltzer brand, Happy Dad, with them.

From Salon

The episode would quickly become notorious when YouTube pulled it down for violating its guidelines about misinformation about the 2020 election, but what caught my eye was the 12-pack of Happy Dad hard seltzer placed conspicuously in frame.

From Salon

Related Words

• old man
• papa
• parent