# daddy

Pronunciation: US say "DAD-ee" /ˈdæd.i/; UK

## Noun

1. A father, especially as a young child calls him or talks about him.
   - Simple: A father, especially when a young child is talking to him or 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._
2. A man who is someone's lover. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A man that someone loves and has a romantic relationship with.
   - _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._
3. A dominant male partner in BDSM or sex play, often addressed as Daddy.
   - Simple: The man who takes control in some sexual relationships, often called Daddy by his partner.
   - _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.'_
5. A sexually attractive man, especially though not only a father or an older man. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A man people find sexually attractive, often an older man or a father.
   - _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._
4. The perfect example of something, or a role model that others look up to and follow. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: The best example of something, or a person others try to be like.
   - _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._

## Adjective

7. Resembling a dad, or having the qualities people think of as typical of dads. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Like a dad, or like the things dads usually do or say.
   - _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._

## Verb

8. To become the father of a child, or to sire the young of an animal. *(dialectal, Appalachia)*
   - Simple: To become the father of a child or of baby animals.
   - _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._

## Noun

6. An informal way of addressing a man when speaking to him. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A casual name you call a man when you talk to him.
9. The person who gives the bride away at a wedding when her own father is not there to do it. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: At a wedding, the person who gives the bride away when her father is not there.
10. A stage manager in a theater. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A stage manager, the person in charge of the stage at a theater.
11. An accomplice chosen in advance to win the prize in a rigged raffle or lottery. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Someone in on the trick who is picked to win the prize in a dishonest raffle or lottery.
12. The man in charge of a casual ward, usually an elderly pauper himself. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The man in charge of a casual ward, usually a poor old man himself.

## Other meanings

- (noun) In a reformatory, a young male offender who rules over the other inmates by means of threats and violence.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–6, 8–12** — Probably formed from dad + -y, a diminutive suffix.
**Meaning 7** — Formed from dad + -y, a suffix that forms adjectives.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/daddy (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).