Meaning & use
dick
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Meanings
nouncountableoffensiveinformal
A very rude word for a man who behaves in a selfish, cruel or unpleasant way.
Grammar: A direct insult; people avoid it in polite company.
Patterns
- be a dick to someone
- act like a dick
Calling a coworker a dick is likely to get you a warning from HR.
The article explains that the word is an insult and not suitable for formal writing.
He felt ashamed after being a dick to his friend at the party.
nouncountablevulgarslang
A crude slang word for the penis.
Grammar: Vulgar; doctors and teachers use other words.
The dictionary marks this sense as vulgar.
Parents usually teach children the medical term instead of this slang word.
Broadcasters bleep the word because it is considered crude.
nouncountableold-fashionedslangAmerican
An old slang word for a detective or private investigator, mostly found in older crime stories.
Grammar: Dated and now rare; usually appears in old films and novels.
Patterns
- a private dick
The old film follows a private dick hired to find a missing heir.
In the novel, the dick spends the night watching a hotel entrance.
Modern readers may not know that dick once meant a detective.
Word forms
| plural | dicks |
|---|
Common combinations
- be a dick
- Saying he was being a dick is a harsh judgment of his behavior.
- private dick
- A private dick is a detective in classic crime fiction.
- dick move
- Reading her messages was a dick move, and he apologized.
- total dick
- The review called the character a total dick, which describes his rude manner.
Synonyms and how they differ
- jerk
- Jerk is a much milder insult and is acceptable in casual speech, while dick is vulgar.
- creep
- Creep suggests someone unsettling or inappropriate, not just unpleasant like dick.
- detective
- Detective is the neutral, current word for the old slang sense of dick.
- jackass
- Jackass stresses stupidity along with rudeness and is less crude than dick.
Opposites
Word family
- dickhead noun
- a vulgar insult for a stupid or unpleasant man
- dickish adjective
- rude and inconsiderate, a vulgar informal word
Commonly confused: dick or Dick?
dick vs Dick
With a capital letter Dick is a man's name, a short form of Richard, and carries no insult.
Practice
Which sentence uses dick in its old, now dated sense for a detective?
Choose one answer.
Private dick is the classic phrase for a detective. The first option is the insult sense, and the others are not real uses.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dick”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.