Word.ws English Dictionary

daddy

Syllables: dad·dy/ˈdædi/

daddy noun: also used as a term of address: a father; one's father.

Noun

daddy (plural daddies)

  1. (childish, informal, usually) Also used as a term of address: a father; one's father.
    • By saynt Mary, my lady, / Your mammy and your dady / Brought forth a godely babi!1523, John Skelton, “A Ryght Delectable Tratyse vpon a Goodly Garlande or Chapelet of Laurell, […]”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume I, London: Thomas Rodd...
    • But unto letters vvas I alvvays ſquinting, / So aſk’d my daddy’s leave to ſtudy Printing; […]1790, Peter Pindar [pseudonym; John Wolcot], “A Poetical Answer to Mr. Peter Pindar‘s Benevolent Epistle to John Nichols”, in A Rowland for an Oliver; or A Poetical Answer to the Benevolent Epistle...
    Synonyms:
    da, dad, dada, pa, papa, pop, ayr, ba, baba, daddio
  2. (broadly, informal) Often in the form the daddy of: the most important or influential man in a field or group; a doyen.
  3. (broadly, 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.
    • Rock ’n’ roll is cool, daddy, and you know it!
    • And yet you can neglect his Suit [for marriage], delay him, make him vvait, and torment him, devvce take ye: If ye like him, vvhy don't ye play above-board; chouſe your Old Daddy, like a good Girl, as ye ought; ſay Yes at his next putting the Queſtion, and let him fall too heartily, novv he has ſo...[1709], Tho[mas] d’Urfey, The Modern Prophets: Or, New Wit for a Husband. A Comedy. […], London: […] Bernard Lintott, […], →OCLC, Act III, scene i, page 28
  4. (broadly, informal) Often used as a term of address: a dominant male sexual partner.
    • The guy I’ve been dating offered to do bondage with me, and I was like “Yes please, daddy.”
    • It wasn't long after this that the very attractive Daddy-type in the harness and cap gave everyone a demonstration in the Sensual Application of Clothespins with yours truly as the model.1988 May 7, Christopher Wittke, “It Takes Two To Tango: But 30 Makes a Great J.O. Party”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 40, Boston, Mass.: The Bromfield Street Educational Foundation...
  5. (broadly, informal, LGBTQ slang) An older masculine sexual partner, especially one who is more sexually dominant; specifically, one who prefers younger partners.
  6. (broadly, informal) A dominant partner in a homosexual relationship; especially one who provides protection to a more vulnerable inmate.
  7. (US, broadly, informal) A husband; also, a woman's (often older) male lover; (generally) a sexually attractive man; a hunk.
    • She looked at me with that familiar desire / Her eyes lit up like they were on fire / She said, "My name's Flo, and you're on the right track, / But look here, daddy, I wear furs on my back, / So if you want to have fun in this man's land, / Let Lincoln and Jackson start shaking hands."1953 May 17 – 1956 November 27 (date recorded), Renald Richard, “Greenbacks”, in Ray Charles, performed by Ray Charles, New York, N.Y.: Atlantic Records, published June 1957
    • She's crazy 'bout her daddy / Oh, she believes in him / She loves her daddy // She's crazy like a fool / Wild about Daddy Cool / I'm crazy like a fool / Wild about Daddy Cool1974 December – 1976 April (date recorded), Frank Farian, George Reyam, “Daddy Cool”, in Take the Heat off Me, performed by Boney M., Berlin: Hansa-Musik-Produktion, published 31 May 1976, →OCLC
  8. (figuratively, informal) Often in the form the daddy of: the most significant of a number of things; a perfect example.
    • the daddy of them all
    • He [Norman Mailer] was, though, absolutely the daddy of faction, his novels or journalism reporting every conflict from 1939 to Iraq and biographising Americans including John F[itzgerald] Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Muhammad Ali and Neil Armstrong.2007 November 11, Mark Lawson, “The king of faction”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 Oct 2025
  9. (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.
    • Throughout Scum various people—prisoners and staff—claim to be ‘in charge’ of, or ‘running’ the borstal. Pongo Banks, the established ‘daddy’, senior officer (SO) Sands—‘I run a wing—right, Carlin?’, the house master, Mr Goodyear and indeed the Governor himself all claim to be in charge. However...2004, David Wilson, Sean O’Sullivan, “On Being ‘the Man’: The Prison Governor”, in Images of Incarceration: Representations of Prison in Film and Television Drama, Winchester, Hampshire: Waterside...
    • The daddies were the chaps of the old borstal system, leaders who had clawed their way to the top of the borstal food chain by showing gameness and the ability and willingness to inflict serious violence on their fellow detainees. Each wing had a daddy, who would rule, usually with an iron fist...2015, Noel “Razor” Smith, “The Language of the Greybar Hotel”, in The Criminal Alphabet: An A–Z of Prison Slang, London: Penguin Books, published 2016, →ISBN
  10. (figuratively, informal, obsolete, slang) A man who gives away the bride at a wedding, in the absence of her actual father.
  11. (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.
  12. (figuratively, informal, obsolete, slang, crime) An accomplice selected to win the prize in a fraudulent lottery or raffle.
  13. (figuratively, informal, obsolete, slang) A stage manager.
    • The stage manager is familiarly termed daddy; and an actor by profession, or a "professional," is called a pro.[1859, [John Camden Hotten], “The History of Slang, or the Vulgar Language of Fast Life”, in A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words, […], London: John Camden Hotten, […], →OCLC, page...

Verb

daddy (third-person singular simple present daddies, present participle daddying, simple past and past participle daddied)

  1. (Appalachia, informal, transitive) To father (a child); to beget, to sire.
    • "Just supposin' Mister [a dog] has daddied a pup here and there," said old man Rivers. "What's wrong with that? Ain't your foxhounds han'some and hard-runnin'?"1964 October, Havilah Babcock, “Something of a Ladies’ Man”, in Jaybirds Go to Hell on Friday and Other Stories, New York, N.Y.; Chicago, Ill.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, →OCLC, page 85
    • Well, it seems that Franklin Ransom had him a girlfriend in nigger holler all along, even when me and him were going out so much together, yes all that whole long time. […] Franklin had daddied two little nigger babies on her, so they say.1988, Lee Smith, Fair and Tender Ladies, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →ISBN, page 184

Adjective

daddy (comparative daddier, superlative daddiest)

  1. (informal, uncommon) Characteristic of or resembling a dad or father.
    • […] Daddy looked at himself more these days, as if to catch himself fading away—though in Junior's eyes he was only growing Daddier.1981 December, Edward Wellen, “Hotline”, in Edward L[ewis] Ferman, editor, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, volume 61, number 6 (number 367 overall), New York, N.Y.: Mercury Press, →ISSN...
    • Taking stock of our muddles gives us permission to look up and see the God-Man [Jesus] in his eternal sacrifice for all of us, for those two young, irresponsible girls and for this "Dad" who is only likely to get daddier as he goes along.2001 April 12, Jeffrey Wilson, “View from my window”, in Donald W. Sincell, editor, The Republican, volume 124, number 7, Oakland, Md.: Sincell Publishing Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, page A-4, columns 3–4

Proper noun capitalized: Daddy

Daddy

  1. (childish, colloquial) One's father.
    • Jenny's voice broke. “Daddy told me that she and Joey, my baby brother, were killed when I was two.”2008, Betty Wagner Loeb, Jenny's Family Circle, page 26

daddy meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali

daddy in Hindi

(informal, usually childish) father
अब्बा abbā, बाबा bābā, बापू bāpū, पिताजी pitājī

daddy in Marathi

(informal, usually childish) father
बाबा bābā

daddy in Urdu

(informal, usually childish) father
اَبّا abbā, بابا bābā, باپ bāp, دادا dādā

daddy in Bengali

বাবা, পিতা
More languagesFewer languages
daddy in Telugu
డాడీ, డాడీకి
daddy in Malayalam
ഡാഡി, ഡാഡിങ്
daddy in Kannada
ಅಪ್ಪ
daddy in Punjabi
ਡੈਡੀ ਜੀ, ਡੈਡੀ
daddy in Sanskrit
तात tāta
daddy in Nepali
बाबा, बाबु
daddy in Tagalog
itay, papa, tatay
daddy in Arabic
بَابَا bābā
daddy in Thai
ป๊า bpáa, ป๋า bpǎa, คุณพ่อ kun pɔ̂ɔ, พ่อ pɔ̂ɔ
daddy in Vietnamese
ba, bố, cha, thầy

Examples of daddy in a sentence

  • Jane […] could not believe that there was a fault in daddy.1880, [Mary Elizabeth Braddon], “The End of All Things”, in Just as I Am […], volume III, London: John and Robert Maxwell […], →OCLC, page...
  • Daddy wouldn't buy me a bow wow! bow wow! / Daddy wouldn't buy me a bow wow! bow wow, / I've got a little cat, / And I'm very fond of that, / But I'd rather have a bow wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.1892, Joseph Tabrar, “Daddy Wouldn’t Buy Me a Bow Wow […]”, performed by Vesta Victoria, New York, N.Y.: T[homas] B. Harms & Co. […]...
  • The goal is for children with a mommy and a daddy and children with two mommies or two daddies to get the clear message that their family is a valued and respected part of the school community.2013, Nancy K. Freeman, Celia A[nita] Decker, John R. Decker, “Working with Families and Communities”, in Planning and Administering Early...
  • "A waitress, Rita Bettencourt, fine chick, slightly hung-up on a few sexual difficulties which I've tried to straighten up and I think you can manage, you fine gone daddy you.[…]"1957 September 5, Jack Kerouac, chapter 7, in On the Road, London: Penguin Books, published 1976, →ISBN, part 1, page 43:

All 40 example sentences with daddy

Synonyms of daddy

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of daddy

Forms of daddy

Noun
pluraldaddies
alternative formdaddie
Verb
third-person singular presentdaddies
present participledaddying
past participledaddied
pastdaddied
Adjective
comparativedaddier
superlativedaddiest

Origin of daddy

The noun is probably derived from dad (although this word is attested later) + -y (diminutive suffix). The verb is derived from the noun.

From dad + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the quality of’).

Words formed from daddy

Phrases with daddy

1 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with daddy

4 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about daddy

What does daddy mean?
Daddy means also used as a term of address: a father; one's father.
What is daddy in Hindi?
Daddy in Hindi is अब्बा (abbā), बाबा (bābā), बापू (bāpū). See Daddy meaning in Hindi.
How do you use daddy in a sentence?
Jane […] could not believe that there was a fault in daddy.
What part of speech is daddy?
Daddy can be a noun, a verb, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce daddy?
Daddy is pronounced /ˈdædi/ (UK).
What is the plural of daddy?
The plural of daddy is daddies.

Words near daddy in the dictionary

  1. daddocks
  2. daddocky
  3. Daddona
  4. Daddonas
  5. Dadds
  6. daddy
  7. daddy diaper parties
  8. daddy diaper party
  9. daddy dom
  10. daddy doms
  11. daddy hundred

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: daddy (page history and authors); Daddy (page history and authors); daddy (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); daddy (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); daddy (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); daddy (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); daddy (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); daddy (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-daddy.wav, En-us-daddy.ogg.

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