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dude (dd, dyd)
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n.
1. Informal An Easterner or city person who vacations on a ranch in the West.
2. Informal A man who is very fancy or sharp in dress and demeanor.
3. Slang
a. A man; a fellow.
b. A person of either sex.
tr.v. dud·ed, dud·ing, dudes
Slang
To dress elaborately or flamboyantly: got all duded up for the show.
interj.
Slang
Used to express approval, satisfaction, or congratulations.

[Respelling of late 19th-century American slang dood, fop, dandy, probably from shortening of Yankee Doodle, a bumpkin who sticks a feather in his cap in imitation of fashionable macaronies in the American popular song "Yankee Doodle" : YANKEE + DOODLE, fool; see DOODLEBUG.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.