dude

What it means

1. 1.

   A man; a guy. Increasingly used regardless of gender in direct address.

2. 2.

   As an interjection carrying the whole emotional content of a sentence — 'Dude.' can mean astonishment, warning, disappointment or delight depending on delivery.

In use

• Some dude left his keys at the bar.

• Dude. Look at this.

• Duuude, no way.

  Note: Vowel length does the work here.

Where it comes from

In the 1880s a dude was an over-dressed dandy — the sense survives in 'dude ranch', a place where city dudes played at being cowboys. Surfer and stoner culture reworked it into the present neutral term.

First attested: 1880s

Other forms

Similar terms:

bro, man, guy