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

“My dad had a house in Chico, so I had somewhere to go. A lot of people were living in tents at Walmart.”

From Los Angeles Times

“I want to be a dad but still work and service everybody else and help people make a great show so that everybody else can be happy,” he says.

From Los Angeles Times

Do you think Lance Stroll will always have his seat at Aston Martin as long as his dad is the owner?

From BBC

Next Best Picture's Philip Bagnall suggested the film is "engineered to keep the kids busy around 4pm on Christmas Day while mum and dad sip their third Irish coffee in peace".

From BBC

They are now "very excited" by the prospect of their dad having a role in the film.

From BBC

Related Words

• old man
• papa
• parent