Word
dude
US/ˈdud/
UK/djˈuːd/
Definitions
01a man or person
B1 · Intermediate Countable noun Informal · American English
n. an informal word for a man or a guy.
n. an informal referent for a male person. In modern urban dialects, it is frequently used as a gender-neutral term for any person.
“I saw some dude waiting outside your house earlier this morning.”
“The dude sitting at the corner table has been staring at his laptop for three hours without ordering a second coffee.”
02a friend or term of address
B1 · Intermediate Countable noun Informal · American English · Slang
n. a word you use to address a friend or someone you are talking to.
n. a vocative used to address a contemporary, typically expressing familiarity or camaraderie.
“Hey dude, do you want to go to the cinema tonight?”
“Listen, dude, I appreciate the advice, but I think I need to handle this situation on my own terms.”
03a dandy or fancy dresser
C2 · Proficiency Countable noun Archaic
n. a man who cares too much about his clothes and looking perfect.
n. a man fastidious about his dress and appearance. This sense is largely historical but survives in the term 'dude ranch'.
“In the old stories, he was quite the dude, always wearing silk hats.”
“The late nineteenth-century press often mocked the city dude who arrived in the West with pristine boots and no practical skills.”
Synonyms
04to dress up
C1 · Advanced Informal · American English · Slang
v. to put on your best or most stylish clothes.
v. to dress in an elaborate or stylish manner, typically used with the particle 'up'.
“He got all duded up for the party in a new suit.”
“They spent the entire afternoon getting duded up for the gala, only to realize they had the wrong date for the event.”
Etymology
Uncertain, though likely a clipping of doodle (“fool, simpleton, mindless person”), perhaps with reference to the fashionable “Yankee Doodle dandy” in the 18th-century lyrics of the song “Yankee Doodle”; the word is first attested in 1883 as a New York City slang term of contempt for a “fastidious man, fop”. If so, then related to German Low German Dudeldop, Dudendop (“fool, dunce”), Saterland Frisian Duddigegen (“idiot”). It has also been suggested that the word is derived from dudes (“old rags”; compare duds) and dudesman (“scarecrow”), or possibly related to dawdle; It has also been suggested the word derives from the Irish dúid. The common claim that the term derives from (or is) a word for a camel's foreskin (or some other vulgar thing, like a hair on a cow, horse, donkey, or elephant's bottom) is false.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.B1 PreliminaryIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.4.0–5.0TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 3.0–3.544–71TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.550–784
- Frequency
- Very common
- Level
- B1 · Intermediate
- Updated
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