daddy
Pluraldaddies
Pluraldaddies
Formsdaddier, daddiest
Formsdaddies, daddying, daddied
- 1A father, especially as a young child calls him or talks about him.
Every night the boy waited by the window for his daddy to come home from work.
The twins grabbed their daddy's hands as they crossed the busy street.
UsageTakes a capital when used as a name: Ask Daddy to read you a story. Adults talking to adults most often say dad.
Similardad, father, papa, pop, pa
Note
The word probably comes from dad plus the diminutive -y, which gives it its small, fond sound and helps explain its use as a child's word. Most of the word's slang uses, from role model to lover, borrow the warmth or the authority of this one.
- 2A man who is someone's lover.
In the old blues song, the singer begs her daddy to come home and stop running around.
Her friends teased her about her new daddy, a smooth-talking musician she had met at the club.
Similarlover, boyfriend, sweetheart
Note
This lover's word was at home in blues songs and African American Vernacular English by the 1920s. It names the man and is also said straight to him: in Ray Charles's Greenbacks (1955), Flo has only just met the singer and already calls him daddy to his face. Keep it apart from the casual address to any man, which carries no romance.
- 3A dominant male partner in BDSM or sex play, often addressed as Daddy.
At the leather bar, he introduced the older man in the harness as his daddy.
She texted her partner a photo of the new collar with the caption 'Thank you, Daddy.'
UsageOften capitalized as a title: Yes, Daddy.
Note
Within BDSM the word names a type as well as a role: Christopher Wittke, writing in Gay Community News in 1988, admired "the very attractive Daddy-type in the harness and cap." Dominance is the heart of it, which sets it apart from the slang for an attractive man, where sex appeal alone does the work.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Christopher Wittke wrote the cited passage in Gay Community News in 1988. en.wiktionary.org
- Wittke described the man with the exact quoted words. en.wiktionary.org
- 4The perfect example of something, or a role model that others look up to and follow.
Of all the storms that hit the coast that year, the October hurricane was the daddy of them all.
Critics still call the late chef the daddy of modern street food, the cook every young chef copies.
UsageOften used in the daddy of ..., especially the daddy of them all.
Similarepitome, embodiment, exemplar, archetype, quintessence
Note
Mark Lawson, writing in The Guardian in 2007, called Norman Mailer absolutely the daddy of faction.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Mark Lawson called Norman Mailer “absolutely the daddy of faction” in The Guardian in 2007. theguardian.com
Less common meanings
- 5A sexually attractive man, especially though not only a father or an older man.
With his gray beard and fitted suits, the actor has become the internet's favorite daddy.
Fans flooded the comments calling the shirtless chef a daddy, though he has no children.
UsageFine for joking among friends, but out of place at work or in polite company.
Similarhunk
Note
DILF covers some of the same ground, but daddy reaches further, since the man need not be a father or even older. Next to the child's word for a father, only context keeps the two meanings apart.
- 6An informal way of addressing a man when speaking to him.
Note
Hailing a man as daddy is period slang that now sounds dated, with the swagger of rock 'n' roll talk: cool, daddy, and you know it. It says nothing about the man's age or whether he has children.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Daddy has a dated slang sense used to address a man who is not the speaker’s father. en.wiktionary.org
- The example phrase is attested in historical footage about rock ’n’ roll. mediaburn.org
- 7Resembling a dad, or having the qualities people think of as typical of dads.
Grilling in cargo shorts while explaining the lawn mower is the daddiest way to spend a Sunday.
He reminded us twice to check the tire pressure before the trip, which may be the daddiest advice anyone has ever given.
UsageMostly in the superlative, and playful: the daddiest joke, the daddiest look ever.
Similarfatherly
Note
The adjective is a separate coinage: here dad takes the adjective-making -y, unlike the nursery word for a father, where the ending is a diminutive.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The adjective has a separate derivation from dad plus adjectival -y. en.wiktionary.org
- The father noun has diminutive -y. en.wiktionary.org
- 8To become the father of a child, or to sire the young of an animal.
Folks up the holler say that old redbone hound will daddy every litter on the ridge if you let him.
He daddied three children before he ever settled down and married.
Note
The verb is at home chiefly in Appalachian speech, and it serves for hounds and men alike: Havilah Babcock (1964) has a character defend a dog that "has daddied a pup here and there," and Larry L. King (1997) writes that Hank "daddied a daughter."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Babcock has a character defend a dog using the quoted words. en.wiktionary.org
- King writes that Hank “daddied a daughter.” en.wiktionary.org
- 9The person who gives the bride away at a wedding when her own father is not there to do it.
- 10A stage manager in a theater.
Note
Several old slang uses lend the family title to whoever takes a father's place or a father's authority, and backstage it went to the stage manager. All are long obsolete, like the bride's stand-in father and the keeper of a casual ward, so in an old account of the theater, picture the person calling the cues, not a parent.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
- Historical slang extended daddy to substitute fathers and people in authority. gutenberg.org
- Daddy was theatrical slang for a stage manager. gutenberg.org
- Daddy could mean the man giving away a bride in her father's absence. en.wiktionary.org
- Daddy could mean the keeper of a casual ward. gutenberg.org
- Calling cues is a stage manager's responsibility. ccsu.edu
- 11An accomplice chosen in advance to win the prize in a rigged raffle or lottery.
- 12The man in charge of a casual ward, usually an elderly pauper himself.
- 13In a reformatory, a young male offender who rules over the other inmates by means of threats and violence.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
Probably formed from dad + -y, a diminutive suffix.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- -y is a diminutive suffix. en.wiktionary.org
Formed from dad + -y, a suffix that forms adjectives.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- The adjective daddy is formed from dad + -y. en.wiktionary.org
- The suffix -y in this formation forms adjectives. en.wiktionary.org