Home UK English dude

Meaning of dude in English:

dude

Pronunciation /d(j)uːd/

Translate dude into Spanish

noun

informal

  • 1North American A man; a guy (often as a form of address)

    • ‘hey dude, what's up?’
    • ‘if some dude smacked me, I'd smack him back’
    • ‘Hey dude, hold on, Pontius has something to say about April Fool's.’
    • ‘Hey dude, thought you said you wanted to talk about the future?’
    • ‘Hey dude, why'd you take your mouth off the exhaust pipe?’
    • ‘So to the dude who I smacked, if you're reading this, I'm sorry, truly sorry.’
    • ‘Hey dude, all you have to do when you watch a TV show is tape the show at the same time that you are watching it.’
    • ‘See, there's this dude, dude, and he thinks people are too uptight, right?’
    • ‘So anyways, hey dudes, we should go downtown tomorrow, eh?’
    • ‘Hey dude, I heard that they posted notice of my freedom on your website today, and I am sorry but you got false information.’
    • ‘And I saw what you did with your men in labs, too - very clever, dude.’
    • ‘I'm glad you like it, dude.’
    • ‘‘That looks sick, dude,’ Luke chirps, snapping his goggles into place.’
    • ‘Well, I think that's like a secret message, dude.’
    • ‘If banality is engulfing humankind, they've rallied with the cry: ‘Surf's up, dude!’’
    • ‘They'd probably just send me emails of congratulatory thanks, signing off with, ‘thanks, dude.’’
    • ‘I talked to him and said, dude, I don't know who your source is, but I hope you're not using them for anyone else because it's simply completely false.’
    • ‘You know, we've been doing something right, dude.’
    • ‘I know you're on TV and everything, but I've been on TV too, dude.’
    • ‘Husseman, a former wolf researcher, pointed and said, ‘Check out the alpenglow, dude.’’
    • ‘Rail transportation's the wave of the future, dude.’
    • ‘Don't turn a blind eye to this mega-chain, dude.’

    Video: a look at dude

    1. 1.1North American A stylish and confident person.
      • ‘cool dudes’
      • ‘The Clutch dudes are totally cool and we're having a blast.’
      • ‘Then, I turned to the cool dudes on the right to see how they were reacting, and nearly fell off my berth - it was them.’
      • ‘Everybody knows the coolest dudes in the world have no money.’
      • ‘He was a rarity: a teacher cool enough for the dudes in class, but with solid standards that made sure we did our work.’
      • ‘Today, I began a new ‘project’ working with a couple of cool dudes based in Swindon.’
      • ‘Here it was the kids who liked punk and new wave who were the cool dudes.’
      • ‘There are the cool dudes flashing along the byways as if they were racing in the Tour de France.’
      • ‘We run into each other quite often - he's a cool dude.’
      • ‘Additionally, any man that can maintain a relationship with Lois Lane has got be a cool dude.’
      • ‘Right off the bat I just met up with the coolest dudes.’
      • ‘If you're into your music and fashion this is the bar to be in, full of cool dudes, with no riff-raff in checked shirts, black pants and nice shiny shoes.’
      • ‘Like starstruck girls, they always go for the coolest dudes.’
      • ‘They fantasised about being these cool dudes in a Godard film, but they didn't really get there.’
      • ‘Dan escapes into the noir world of a novel he wrote called The Singing Detective in which foul deeds are done, women are the betrayers and Dan himself is a cool dude.’
      • ‘He had been born and raised in New Rochelle, NY, and even in high school was a cool dude, being voted the best dressed senior.’
      • ‘I couldn't wait to get to the set to play this guy, because I thought he was such a cool dude, and so deliciously devilish, and so funny.’
      • ‘Julio's such a cool dude I'd hate to see my buddy get hurt.’
      • ‘Atta handled them really well - in fact, he was one cool dude throughout.’
      • ‘‘He had a wonderful, confident attitude and stood out as a real dude on the course,’ Yates says.’
      dandy, fop, beau, man about town, bright young thing, glamour boy, rake
    2. 1.2North American, US A city-dweller, especially one holidaying on a ranch in the western US.

verb

[no object]informal North American dude up

  • Dress up elaborately.

    • ‘my brother was all duded up in silver and burgundy’
    • ‘He's 55 years old, the hair largely gray now, all duded up like a college professor, and he's backed by a huge American flag in this union hall in Ashland, Ohio.’
    • ‘Either way, it's an excuse to get all duded up, and hang out with a bunch of folks I know.’
    • ‘In one photograph he stands in his lambing camp, duded up in a white shirt, black vest, and tie.’
    • ‘Another is of my dad in Stuttgart, Germany, duded up in leather wearing a Leica camera around his neck.’
    • ‘The kid with the blissful smile had grown into this tall, handsome, blonde ladykiller and he'd duded himself up in the coolest of new rags, including one of those trendy sport coats with sleeves you could roll up.’

Origin

Late 19th century (denoting a dandy): probably shortened from doodle, perhaps with allusion to Yankee Doodle Dandy.