Definition of DUDE (original) (raw)

2

: a city dweller unfamiliar with life on the range (see range entry 1 sense 3b)

especially : an Easterner in the West

3

informal : fellow, guy

The other girls in the program never go out, so I always find myself out with dudes from my program.—Cosmopolitan

—sometimes used as a term of address

Hey, dude, what's up?

Word History

Etymology

Noun

origin unknown

Verb

noun derivative of dude entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1877, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1899, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of dude was in 1877