plural dummies
1
a
dated, offensive
: a person who is incapable of speaking
b
: a person who is habitually silent
c
: a stupid person
He's no dummy.
She loves you, you dummy.
2
3
: an imitation, copy, or likeness of something used as a substitute: such as
a
: mannequin
a crash test dummy
b
football
: a stuffed figure or cylindrical bag used for tackling (see tackle entry 2 sense 1b) and blocking practice
c
entertainment
: a large puppet usually having movable features (such as mouth and arms) manipulated by a ventriloquist
d
chiefly British
: pacifier sense 2
4
: one seeming to act independently but in reality controlled by another
a dummy for the real store owner
5
printing
a
: a mock-up of a proposed publication (such as a book or magazine)
b
: a set of pages (as for a newspaper or magazine) with the position of text and artwork indicated for the printer (see printer sense a)
1
a
: having the appearance of being real : artificial
dummy foods in the display case
b
: existing in name only : fictitious
dummy corporations
2
: apparently acting for oneself while really acting for or at the direction of another
a dummy director
dummied; dummying
publishing
: to make a dummy (see dummy entry 1 sense 5) of (something, such as a publication)
—often used with up
dummied up the front page
Synonyms
Noun
- airhead
- birdbrain
- blockhead
- bonehead
- bubblehead
- chowderhead
- chucklehead
- clodpoll
- clodpole
- clot [British]
- cluck
- clunk
- cretin
- cuddy [British dialect]
- cuddie
- deadhead
- dim bulb [slang]
- dimwit
- dip
- dodo
- dolt
- donkey
- doofus [slang]
- dope
- dork [slang]
- dullard
- dum-dum
- dumbbell
- dumbhead
- dummkopf
- dunce
- dunderhead
- fathead
- gander
- golem
- goof
- goon
- half-wit
- hammerhead
- hardhead
- idiot
- ignoramus
- imbecile
- jackass
- know-nothing
- knucklehead
- lamebrain
- loggerhead [chiefly dialect]
- loon
- lump
- lunkhead
- meathead
- mome [archaic]
- moron
- mug [chiefly British]
- mutt
- natural
- nimrod [slang]
- nincompoop
- ninny
- ninnyhammer
- nit [chiefly British]
- nitwit
- noddy
- noodle
- numskull
- numbskull
- oaf
- pinhead
- prat [British]
- ratbag [chiefly Australian]
- saphead
- schlub [slang]
- shlub
- schnook [slang]
- simpleton
- stock
- stupe
- stupid
- thickhead
- turkey
- woodenhead
- yahoo
- yo-yo
Adjective
Examples of dummy in a Sentence
Noun
She loves you, you dummy.
They practiced CPR on a dummy.
The bomb was just a dummy.
Adjective
They took apart a dummy bomb.
the dummy shutters on the house are actually made of vinyl and are for decoration only
Recent Examples on the Web
Linda Trischitta, Sun-Sentinel.com, 10 July 2017
Zuby said the Tesla Model S didn’t have a strong enough safety belt, and a dummy used to simulate a driver in the small overlap test moved too far forward during the crash, striking its head on the steering wheel.
—Diana Kruzman, USA TODAY, 6 July 2017
At NASA Langley's Landing and Impact Research Facility, ten crash test dummies were buckled into a section of airplane fuselage and dropped from the sky.
—Chris Clarke, Popular Mechanics, 6 July 2017
Nursing students practice clinical procedures using virtual reality and full-size dummies, including a birthing simulator named Lucina.
—Jennifer Lu, miamiherald, 12 June 2017
The American Heart Association employs a bunch of dummies.
—Jessica Roy, The Cut, 23 June 2017
While the group did 100 to 120 chest compressions a minute on CPR dummies, or 30 compressions and two breaths, Metro took photos with her phone and streamed the scene on Facebook Live.
—Victoria St. Martin, Washington Post, 5 July 2017
TV show host Ellen DeGeneres presented her a ventriloquist dummy named Stacy as a gift.
—David Frese, kansascity.com, 30 June 2017
Baig is the co-author of iPhone For Dummies, an independent work published by Wiley.
—Edward C. Baig, USA TODAY, 23 June 2017
Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Apr. 2024
Inert dummy rounds would have sufficed instead, the statement alleged, and cited expert weapons consultants who noted that a plastic or replica gun should have been used during the rehearsal.
—Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 15 Apr. 2024
During a training exercise in southern Ukraine in May 2023, a drone pilot maneuvered a flier to a height of 100 meters before dropping a dummy anti-tank grenade on to a pile of tires.
—IEEE Spectrum, 10 Apr. 2024
Rose then ruffed her last heart in dummy and discarded a diamond on the good fifth club.
—Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2024
The prosecutors also showed evidence that Gutierrez Reed was responsible for the fatal error of inadvertently bringing six live bullets to set, mixed among dummy rounds.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 11 Apr. 2024
The drone was powered by a blue battery pack and carried a dummy bomb.
—IEEE Spectrum, 10 Apr. 2024
South should win the first heart in dummy and lead the ace and a second trump.
—Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 18 Mar. 2024
Fewer than one in five of the dummy social media accounts had managed to amass more than 1,000 followers, with most of the content receiving no interaction at all.
—Justin Ling, WIRED, 1 Feb. 2024
Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 9 Apr. 2024
East wins and leads a club, and South ruffs and leads a diamond to dummy’s jack.
—Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2024
South next led a diamond to dummy and let the jack of clubs ride.
—Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 28 Feb. 2024
South can lead a club to dummy at Trick Two to finesse in hearts.
—Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 5 Feb. 2024
Later, South leads his four of diamonds to dummy’s eight and runs the suit for nine tricks in all.
—Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 24 Jan. 2024
The sequence was set up as Bobby Wood dummied a pass from DeJuan Jones, Bou was held onside by right back Shaq Moore.
—Frank Dell'apa, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Mar. 2023
January 26, 2023 Mills, who was elected in November to succeed Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy after her district was redrawn to become heavily Republican, also gained notoriety last month for giving his fellow members dummy grenades.
—Steven Lemongello, Orlando Sentinel, 3 Feb. 2023
To gain regulatory approval, a drug is normally tested in costly large-scale trials encompassing a large number of people — with about half getting a placebo, or dummy pill — to prove the treatment actually works.
—Discover Staff, Discover Magazine, 16 Feb. 2014
Noun
Each year, fire safety officials warn of the dangers of fireworks and stage demonstrations of dummies that catch fire and watermelons that explode.
—Linda Trischitta, Sun-Sentinel.com, 10 July 2017
Zuby said the Tesla Model S didn’t have a strong enough safety belt, and a dummy used to simulate a driver in the small overlap test moved too far forward during the crash, striking its head on the steering wheel.
—Diana Kruzman, USA TODAY, 6 July 2017
At NASA Langley's Landing and Impact Research Facility, ten crash test dummies were buckled into a section of airplane fuselage and dropped from the sky.
—Chris Clarke, Popular Mechanics, 6 July 2017
Nursing students practice clinical procedures using virtual reality and full-size dummies, including a birthing simulator named Lucina.
—Jennifer Lu, miamiherald, 12 June 2017
The American Heart Association employs a bunch of dummies.
—Jessica Roy, The Cut, 23 June 2017
While the group did 100 to 120 chest compressions a minute on CPR dummies, or 30 compressions and two breaths, Metro took photos with her phone and streamed the scene on Facebook Live.
—Victoria St. Martin, Washington Post, 5 July 2017
TV show host Ellen DeGeneres presented her a ventriloquist dummy named Stacy as a gift.
—David Frese, kansascity.com, 30 June 2017
Baig is the co-author of iPhone For Dummies, an independent work published by Wiley.
—Edward C. Baig, USA TODAY, 23 June 2017
Adjective
Five live rounds mixed in with dummy rounds were found on set following the incident.
—Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Apr. 2024
Inert dummy rounds would have sufficed instead, the statement alleged, and cited expert weapons consultants who noted that a plastic or replica gun should have been used during the rehearsal.
—Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 15 Apr. 2024
During a training exercise in southern Ukraine in May 2023, a drone pilot maneuvered a flier to a height of 100 meters before dropping a dummy anti-tank grenade on to a pile of tires.
—IEEE Spectrum, 10 Apr. 2024
Rose then ruffed her last heart in dummy and discarded a diamond on the good fifth club.
—Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2024
The prosecutors also showed evidence that Gutierrez Reed was responsible for the fatal error of inadvertently bringing six live bullets to set, mixed among dummy rounds.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 11 Apr. 2024
The drone was powered by a blue battery pack and carried a dummy bomb.
—IEEE Spectrum, 10 Apr. 2024
South should win the first heart in dummy and lead the ace and a second trump.
—Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 18 Mar. 2024
Fewer than one in five of the dummy social media accounts had managed to amass more than 1,000 followers, with most of the content receiving no interaction at all.
—Justin Ling, WIRED, 1 Feb. 2024
Verb
South took the ace, cashed his ace of clubs, led a trump to dummy and ruffed a club.
—Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 9 Apr. 2024
East wins and leads a club, and South ruffs and leads a diamond to dummy’s jack.
—Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2024
South next led a diamond to dummy and let the jack of clubs ride.
—Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 28 Feb. 2024
South can lead a club to dummy at Trick Two to finesse in hearts.
—Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 5 Feb. 2024
Later, South leads his four of diamonds to dummy’s eight and runs the suit for nine tricks in all.
—Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 24 Jan. 2024
The sequence was set up as Bobby Wood dummied a pass from DeJuan Jones, Bou was held onside by right back Shaq Moore.
—Frank Dell'apa, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Mar. 2023
January 26, 2023 Mills, who was elected in November to succeed Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy after her district was redrawn to become heavily Republican, also gained notoriety last month for giving his fellow members dummy grenades.
—Steven Lemongello, Orlando Sentinel, 3 Feb. 2023
To gain regulatory approval, a drug is normally tested in costly large-scale trials encompassing a large number of people — with about half getting a placebo, or dummy pill — to prove the treatment actually works.
—Discover Staff, Discover Magazine, 16 Feb. 2014
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dummy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near dummy
Cite this Entry
“Dummy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dummy. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
dummy
1 of 2 noun
dum·my
ˈdəm-ē 
plural dummies
1
: a person who lacks or seems to lack the power of speech
2
: a stupid person
3
: an imitation used as a substitute for something: as
b
: a large puppet usually having movable features (as mouth and arms) controlled by a ventriloquist
4
a
: the bridge hand of the partner of the player who wins the bid that is placed face up and played by the bid winner
b
: a bridge player whose hand is a dummy
dummy
2 of 2 adjective1
: having the appearance of being real but lacking ability to function
dummy hinges for ornament
2
: existing in name only : fictitious
a dummy corporation
Medical Definition
dummy
2 of 2 adjective
: being a placebo
those who unknowingly receive a dummy pill instead of the real thing—Nicholas Wade
Nicholas WadeLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
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