DCHP-1 Online

dude † [origin unknown] This word has had many subtle meanings, almost all of them derogatory and often connoting distrust on the part of the user.

• 1 n. Esp. West a non-westerner or a newly-arrived settler who affects stylish eastern clothes.

  • 1883  The dude is one of those creatures which are perfectly harmless, and are a necessary evil to civilization.
  • 1962  Well, chances are Mr. Dude, you've been getting a silent horse laugh yourself from your trusty cayuse.

• 2 n. a dandy; an elegant person, or one who affects elegance; snob.

  • 1900  Is not the West a free country, and must not a man shun the soap-dish and hair-brush, except on festal occasions, if he wants to be known as a worker and not a "dude"?
  • 1910  Camilla . . . took them for Mrs. Francis to see, and also for the boys to see themselves in the long mirror. . . . Danny sidled up to Mrs. Francis and said in a confidential whisper: "Ain't I the biggest dood in the bunch?"
  • 1918  
    You have often sold a daughter
    To some dude across the water,
    While the title high which bought her
    You so seemingly ignore;
    Why not send us a cotillion
    Of those girls who own a million
    For our hardy northern gillian
    On the old Canadian shore?

• 3 n. an inexperienced person; greenhorn.

  • 1912  He's going down to Dawson with a couple of dudes and another gentleman's man--camp-cook, boatman, and general all-round hustler.
  • 1951  I don't like to see these dudes or smart Indians taking these three hundred yard shots, unless there's no other way.
  • 1958  The election was held following the return of some 60 dude and veteran members from their six-day camp. . . .