Skip to content
HOW TO PRONOUNCE

daddy

/ˈdædi/

Press play to hear how to pronounce daddy.

American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
Watch on YouTube ↗

What does daddy mean?

noun

  1. (informal) Also used as a term of address: a father; one's father.
  2. (informal) Often in the form the daddy of: the most important or influential man in a field or group; a doyen.
  3. (informal) Often used as a term of address: a dominant male sexual partner.
More meanings (13)

noun

  1. (informal) An older masculine sexual partner, especially one who is more sexually dominant; specifically, one who prefers younger partners.
  2. (informal) A dominant partner in a homosexual relationship; especially one who provides protection to a more vulnerable inmate.
  3. (informal) A husband; also, a woman's (often older) male lover; (generally) a sexually attractive man; a hunk.
  4. (figuratively, informal) Often in the form the daddy of: the most significant of a number of things; a perfect example.
  5. (figuratively, informal, slang) A male juvenile delinquent in a reformatory, or a male prisoner in a prison, who dominates other inmates through threats and violence.
  6. (dated, informal, slang) Chiefly used as a term of address: a man who is not one's father, often but not necessarily older than oneself.
  7. (figuratively, informal, obsolete, slang) A man who gives away the bride at a wedding, in the absence of her actual father.
  8. (figuratively, informal, obsolete, slang) A man in charge of a casual ward (“the section of a workhouse where itinerants and tramps could be accommodated for one night”), generally an elderly pauper.
  9. (figuratively, informal, obsolete, slang) An accomplice selected to win the prize in a fraudulent lottery or raffle.
  10. (figuratively, informal, obsolete, slang) A stage manager.

verb

  1. (informal) To father (a child); to beget, to sire.

adjective

  1. (informal) Characteristic of or resembling a dad or father.

proper noun

  1. One's father.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈdædi/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

“Naught,” said he, “but to keep out of his gait. Daddy cannot bide me, because I swear at him.”
Emily BrontëWuthering HeightsProject Gutenberg ebook #768
And this word is found in many languages in Europe and America, and even in our own, as, "da-da," "daddy," father.
Ignatius DonnellyRagnarok : the Age of Fire and GravelProject Gutenberg ebook #5109
More book examples (3)
She will keep the sun and stars in order, while she looks after poor old Mrs. Daddy- long-legs there and her eggs.
Charles KingsleyMadam How and Lady Why; Or, First Lessons in Earth Lore for ChildrenProject Gutenberg ebook #1697
Oh, I tell you, Daddy, when we women get our rights, you men will have to look alive in order to keep yours.
Jean WebsterDaddy-Long-LegsProject Gutenberg ebook #157
Titania, to whom this was a surprise, leaped from her chair and ran to kiss her father, crying, "Oh, Daddy, you ARE a darling!"
Christopher MorleyThe Haunted BookshopProject Gutenberg ebook #172