Word.ws English Dictionary

Dutch uncles

Dutch uncles is the plural of Dutch uncle.

Meaning of Dutch uncle

Noun

Dutch uncle (plural Dutch uncles)

  1. One who reproves or advises in a blunt, stern but often kindly manner, intended for the benefit of the recipient.
    • Gruff but kindly, with dark-rimmed glasses prone to slip down his prominent ruddy nose and an unlit cigar habitually clenched in his teeth, he was everyone's Dutch uncle and let even strangers call him “Maggie” to his face.1996, Richard Kluger, Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip Morris, Random House (Alfred A. Knopf), page 287

Questions about Dutch uncles

What is Dutch uncles the plural of?
Dutch uncles is the plural of Dutch uncle.

Words near Dutch uncles in the dictionary

  1. Dutch Time
  2. Dutch touch
  3. Dutch treat
  4. Dutch treats
  5. Dutch uncle
  6. Dutch uncles
  7. Dutch West Indies
  8. Dutch widow
  9. Dutch widows
  10. Dutch wife
  11. Dutch wives

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Dutch uncles (page history and authors); Dutch uncle (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:

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