Word.ws English Dictionary

Dick's hatband

Dick's hatband noun: used in similes as an intensifier, indicating someone or something is extremely strange, tight, etc.

Noun

Dick's hatband

  1. (colloquial, dated, now principally US) Used in similes as an intensifier, indicating someone or something is extremely strange, tight, etc.
    • A young Lady, the first or second Day of her Marriage, looks as queer as Dick's Hat-Band.1742, James Ayres, Sancho at Court, act III, line 44
    • I am as queer as Dick's hatband; that is, out of spirits, or don't know what ails me.1796, Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. "Dick"

Forms of Dick's hatband

alternative formNick's hatband

Origin of Dick's hatband

Unknown; theories include reference to some local figure named Dick or Nick; to Satan (cf. Old Nick and dickens); and to Richard Cromwell.

Words formed from Dick's hatband

Questions about Dick's hatband

What does Dick's hatband mean?
Dick's hatband means used in similes as an intensifier, indicating someone or something is extremely strange, tight, etc.
What part of speech is Dick's hatband?
Dick's hatband is a noun.

Words near Dick's hatband in the dictionary

  1. dick weeds
  2. Dick Whittington
  3. Dick Whittingtons
  4. dick worm
  5. dick worms
  6. Dick's hatband
  7. dick-ache
  8. dick-brain
  9. dick-brains
  10. dick-cheese
  11. dick-head

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Dick's hatband (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.

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