Word.ws English Dictionary

phud

phud noun: a Doctor of Philosophy (a PhD degree).

Noun

phud (plural phuds)

  1. (derogatory, slang, sometimes) A Doctor of Philosophy (a PhD degree).
    • The only reason for there being a second class of scientists is that the chances are good they'll spend their whole lives studying and never get a phud.1983, Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact
    • Gene has had a full career as most of us know: 32 years at the University of Wisconsin, where beside teaching medical entomology he's been major professor for 25 Phuds and 9 Masters.1993, Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association
  2. (derogatory, slang, sometimes) A holder of a PhD degree, especially one in academia or seen as out of touch.
    • "He's a phud," Ash said, using the term of derision applied by Harvard Business School types for persons with advanced academic degrees.1974, The Atlantic Monthly
    • The phuds, she said proudly, had written a book together, Ward M: The Behavioral Management Of Chronic Schizophrenia.2011, Shalom Camenietzki, Nine Ninety Nine, Strategic Book Publishing, →ISBN, page 32

Examples of phud in a sentence

  • To get one of those you have to grovel and cringe and beg several folks already got their Phuds.2012, Peter Bowen, Ash Child, Open Road Media, →ISBN:
  • "I don't have a PhD," claimed Jerry Attricks, "They forgot the U." "You have PhuD?" questioned Scott, just as Dr.2021, Scott Wozniak, Scott the Woz:

Forms of phud

pluralphuds

Origin of phud

From humorously mispronouncing PhD as an acronym.

Questions about phud

What does phud mean?
Phud means a Doctor of Philosophy (a PhD degree).
How do you use phud in a sentence?
To get one of those you have to grovel and cringe and beg several folks already got their Phuds.
What part of speech is phud?
Phud is a noun.
What is the plural of phud?
The plural of phud is phuds.

Words near phud in the dictionary

  1. phuchkas
  2. phuck
  3. phucked
  4. phucking
  5. phucks
  6. phud
  7. phudnik
  8. phudniks
  9. phuds
  10. Phuentshogpelri
  11. Phuentsholing

Source and license

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