Words · Rare
duded
5 letters · 3 distinct letters
A form of dude.
- noun
an informal form of address for a man
Say, fellow, what are you doing?
- noun
a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance
Word history
History of dude
Uncertain, though likely a clipping of doodle (“fool, simpleton, mindless person”), perhaps with reference to the fashionable “Yankee Doodle dandy” in the 18th century lyrics of the song “Yankee Doodle”; the word is first attested in 1883 as a New York City slang term of contempt for a “fastidious man, fop”. If so, then related to German Low German Dudeldop, Dudendop (“fool, dunce”), Saterland Frisian Duddigegen (“idiot”).
From Wiktionary, under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0
Why this word counts
- Where it comes from
- Listed in the English Speller Database at size 35: the core list of everyday words.
- How common it is
- Too rare to measure in everyday writing.
- In the spelling bee
- Bonus word It’s waiting for an editor’s review because it’s rare in everyday writing, and one of its meanings is disparaging. Until then it scores as a bonus word.