# dude

Pronunciation: say "DOOD" /duːd/

## Noun

1. An informal term for a man, especially a young man, also used to address someone. *(colloquial, Canada, US)*
   - Simple: A man or guy. It is also a friendly, informal way to talk to someone directly.
   - _Her roommate's boyfriend is a pretty easygoing dude who works at a bike shop._
   - _A couple of dudes from the skate park helped us push the car out of the snow._
3. In the American West, a city person who knows little of ranch or outdoor life, especially a visitor or paying guest at a ranch; by extension, any tourist. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A city person who does not know ranch or outdoor life, especially a visitor at a ranch or park.
   - _To the old ranger, anyone with a park map and a rental car was a dude, his own sister included._
   - _The wranglers saved the gentlest horses for the dudes who had never been in a saddle._

## Interjection

2. Used in addressing someone, usually a man, to express awe, excitement, surprise, annoyance, or a similar feeling. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Said to someone, usually a man, to show surprise, excitement, wonder, or annoyance.
   - _Dude. Did you see the size of that wave?_
   - _Dude, seriously? You told her about the party?_

## Verb

4. To dress up in smart or special clothes, usually followed by up. *(US)*
   - Simple: To dress up in nice or special clothes, usually said with up.
   - _The ranch hands dude up on Saturday night before heading into town._
   - _She got duded up in her best boots and a beaded jacket for the rodeo._
5. To address someone as dude.
   - Simple: To call someone dude when you talk to them.
   - _Don't you dude me. I'm your teacher, not your buddy._
   - _At the arrivals gate, the two brothers were duding each other and laughing like teenagers._
6. To spend a vacation as a guest at a dude ranch.
   - Simple: To go on vacation and stay at a dude ranch.

## Noun

7. A man who is very concerned with his clothes and the way he looks. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A man who cares a lot about his clothes and how he looks.

## Origin

Of uncertain origin, but likely a clipping of doodle (“fool, simpleton”), perhaps referring to the fashionable “Yankee Doodle dandy” of the 18th-century song “Yankee Doodle”; it is first recorded in 1883 as New York City slang, a term of contempt for a fastidious man or fop, and if this origin is right it is related to German Low German Dudeldop, Dudendop (“fool, dunce”) and Saterland Frisian Duddigegen (“idiot”). Other suggested sources are dudes (“old rags”; compare duds) and dudesman (“scarecrow”), possibly dawdle, and Irish dúid. The common claim that it comes from a word for a camel's foreskin or some similar vulgar thing is false.

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