Standard Lemma guide

dud

adj · noun · 10 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • dŭd
  • /dʌd/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ʌd
  • CMU ARPABET: D AH1 D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Useless; failing; ineffective.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A device or machine that is useless because it does not work properly or has failed to work, such as a bomb, or explosive projectile.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A failure of any kind.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A failure of any kind.

A loser; an unlucky person.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A failure of any kind.

A lottery ticket that does not give a payout.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

Clothes, now always used in plural form duds.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal, obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

adjective satellite

Meaning 7

failing to detonate; especially not charged with an active explosive

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he stepped on a dud mine

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

an event that fails badly or is totally ineffectual

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the first experiment was a real turkey
  • the meeting was a dud as far as new business was concerned

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: turkey, bomb

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: flop, bust, fizzle

9

noun

Meaning 9

an explosion that fails to occur

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: misfire

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: breakdown, equipment failure

10

noun

Meaning 10

someone who is unsuccessful

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: flop, washout

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: failure, loser, nonstarter, unsuccessful person

History

Etymology

From Middle English dudde (“cloak, mantle, kind of cloth; ragged clothing or cloth”), from Old English *dudda (attested only as personal name Dudda, part of modern English Dudley), akin to Old Norse dúði (“swaddling clothes”), Low German dudel. Possibly borrowed from the Old Norse word and related to dýja (“to shake, tremble”).

Across languages

Translations

35 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: fracàs — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Catalan: pífia — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Chinese Mandarin: 瞎炮 (xiāpào) — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Chinese Mandarin: 啞炮 /哑炮 (yǎpào) — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Chinese Mandarin: 啞彈 /哑弹 (yǎdàn) — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Chinese Mandarin: 瞎彈 /瞎弹 (xiādàn) — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Czech: zmetek — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Czech: šmejd — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Czech: nefunkční věc — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Danish: fuser — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Danish: forsager — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Danish: blindgænger — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Dutch: blindganger — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Finnish: susi — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Finnish: suutari — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • French: munition non explosée — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Galician: cacharro — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Galician: carraca — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • German: Blindgänger — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • German: Versager — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Japanese: 不発弾 (fuhatsudan) — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Polish: bubel — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Polish: fajans — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Polish: tandeta — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Russian: неразорва́вшийся снаря́д (nerazorvávšijsja snarjád) — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Scottish Gaelic: rud gun fheum — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Spanish: llufa (DEA) — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Swedish: blindgångare — broken or nonfunctional device that does not perform its intended function
  • Danish: nitte — lottery ticket that does not give a payout
  • Dutch: niet — lottery ticket that does not give a payout
  • German: Niete — lottery ticket that does not give a payout
  • Norwegian Bokmål: nite — lottery ticket that does not give a payout
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: nite — lottery ticket that does not give a payout
  • Swedish: nit — lottery ticket that does not give a payout
  • Swedish: nitlott — lottery ticket that does not give a payout