Word.ws English Dictionary

Adams

/ˈædəmz/

Adams proper noun: a surname originating as a patronymic derived from Adam. Also the plural of Adam.

Proper noun

Adams (countable and uncountable, plural Adamses)

  1. A surname originating as a patronymic derived from Adam.
    • Maplewood, New Jersey Mayor Nancy Adams said her community banned gas-powered blowers in January 2023.2024 June 20, Wayne Parry, “U.S. bans on gasoline-powered leaf blowers grow, as does blowback from landscaping industry”, in AP News, archived from the original on 19 Aug 2024
  2. An unincorporated community in Lake County, California.
  3. Former name of Corte Madera, California.
  4. An unincorporated community in Decatur County, Indiana.
  5. An unincorporated community in Morgan County, Indiana.
  6. An unincorporated community in Lawrence County, Kentucky.
  7. A town and census-designated place therein, in Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
  8. A minor city in Mower County, Minnesota.
  9. A minor city in Walsh County, North Dakota.
  10. A village in Gage County, Nebraska.
  11. An unincorporated community in Middlesex County, New Jersey.
  12. A town and village therein, in Jefferson County, New York.
Show 11 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. An unincorporated community in Texas County, Oklahoma.
  2. A minor city in Umatilla County, Oregon.
  3. A former community in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.
  4. A minor city in Robertson County, Tennessee.
  5. A city and town in Adams County, Wisconsin.
  6. A town in Green County, Wisconsin.
  7. A town in Jackson County, Wisconsin.
  8. An unincorporated community in Troy, Walworth County, Wisconsin.
  9. A number of townships in the United States, listed under Adams Township.
  10. A municipality of Ilocos Norte, Philippines.
  11. The only barangay in the municipality of Adams, Ilocos Norte, Philippines.

Noun

Adams (plural Adamses)

  1. A kind of dry fly primarily used for trout.
    • Although I still carry traditionally tied Adamses and a few Ginger Quills and the like, I now fish paraduns almost exclusively when […]1991, Ed Engle, Fly Fishing the Tailwaters, page 96

Also used as

Adams is also the plural of Adam.

Forms of Adams

Proper noun
pluralAdamses
alternative form (rare)Addams
Noun
pluralAdamses

Origin of Adams

From Adam + -s. (fishing fly): Named after Charles Adams, who asked his friend Leonard Halladay to design the fly.

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Words formed from Adams

Phrases with Adams

Questions about Adams

What does Adams mean?
Adams means a surname originating as a patronymic derived from Adam.
What part of speech is Adams?
Adams can be a proper noun or a noun.
How do you pronounce Adams?
Adams is pronounced /ˈædəmz/.

Words near Adams in the dictionary

  1. adamitism
  2. Adamless
  3. Adamnan
  4. Adamorobe Sign Language
  5. Adamos
  6. Adams
  7. Adams Center
  8. Adams City
  9. Adams County
  10. Adams Estate
  11. Adams Island

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Adams (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Adams.wav.

Cite this entry: “Adams.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/adams. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.