dude

American  

[dood, dyood] / dud, dyud /

noun

1. a man excessively concerned with his clothes, grooming, and manners.

2. Slang

   1. a fellow; chap.

   2. (a general term of address used to a man, woman, or group).

3. a person reared in a large city.

4. Western U.S. an urban Easterner who vacations on a ranch.

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interjection

1. Slang (an expression of shock, approval, sympathy, or other strong feeling).

   Dude! That's one expensive sandwich!

verb phrase

1. dude up to dress in one's fanciest, best, or most stylish clothes; dress up.

   He got all duded up to go to the dance.

dude British  

/ duːd, djuːd /

noun

1. a city dweller, esp one holidaying on a ranch

2. a dandy

3. a person: often used to any male in direct address

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Other Word Forms

• dudish adjective
• dudishly adverb

Etymology

Origin of dude

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; origin uncertain

Explanation

Dude is a slang greeting term between men, meaning "guy" or "man." For example: "Dude! So, like, what's up?" It's been popularized by movies and TV shows, and has a distinctive whiff of American West Coast hippie culture to it. In the American nineteenth century dude had another life as a term for a dandy — a particularly well-groomed and fancily-dressed young man. From this came the term of dude as meaning a big city dweller unfamiliar with the ways of the Wild West. When such types came out West to enjoy the rugged life, they stayed in "dude ranches," basically resorts or spas, not real working ranches, and the term is still around today.

Example Sentences

He won some fame as a surfer dude in Amy Heckerling's 1982 hit teen flick "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."

From Barron's • Mar. 16, 2026

A perversity in the script is that Frank is a manipulator and a gaslighter but overall a pretty good dude.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2026

Why did anybody pretend to be surprised that this dude was a massive slimeball who cultivated other slimeballs?

From Salon • Feb. 15, 2026

The company gets good mileage out of Boone’s trademark backflip here, but yeah—goodbye forever, dude!

From Slate • Feb. 8, 2026

“We’ll leave you all your treasure,” Leo said, “except the stuff that belongs to us, and the astrolabe, and this book, which we’ll take back to the dude in Venice.”

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

• buddy
• chap
• fellow