Dewey

American

[doo-ee, dyoo-ee] / ˈdu i, ˈdyu i /

noun

George, 1837–1917, U.S. admiral: defeated Spanish fleet in Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War.
John, 1859–1952, U.S. philosopher and educator.
Melvil Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey, 1851–1931, U.S. educator, administrator, and innovator in the field of library science.
Thomas E(dmund), 1902–71, U.S. lawyer and political leader.
a male given name, form of David.

Dewey British

/ ˈdjuːɪ /

noun

John. 1859–1952, US pragmatist philosopher and educator: an exponent of progressivism in education, he formulated an instrumentalist theory of learning through experience. His works include The School and Society (1899), Democracy and Education (1916), and Logic: the Theory of Inquiry (1938)

"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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Berk lives in Los Angeles with his husband, Dewey Do, and their dog, Bimini.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 8, 2025

James Dewey Watson was born in Chicago on 6 April 1928 to a family who believed in "books, birds and the Democratic Party".

From BBC • Nov. 7, 2025

Konstantin Sonin, a Russian economist who serves as the John Dewey Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, said he doubted a Budapest summit would happen.

From Salon • Aug. 23, 2025

The Netflix series actually goes on to make this clear with footage of Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Operation Dewey Canyon III just minutes later.

From Slate • Apr. 30, 2025

He means Dewey, but does not look at him.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023