Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tad

/tæd/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.53 in modern English

Syllables: tad
IPA: /tæd/

4

Scrabble Score

3

Letters

1

Syllables

3

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A small amount; a little bit.

Informal

noun

A street boy; an urchin.

American usage; Dated; Slang

name

A diminutive of the male given name Thaddeus or Thaddaeus.

name

British usage; Colloquial

verb

simple past and past participle of TA

noun

Initialism of tobacco, alcohol and drugs.

Uncountable

noun

Initialism of transboundary animal disease.

Countable

Example Sentences

"Could you lean the picture to the left just a tad more?"
"There's a new pub opening in Tad next week."

Etymology

1877, ‘young or small child’, probably a shortened form of tadpole. The extended meaning ‘small amount’ is first recorded 1915.

Usage

Inflected Forms

tads (plural)

Phrases

a tad

Synonyms

jot whit ace atom thought atomy aught bissel continental bit crumb glimpse

Rhymes With

had bad add dad glad sad ad mad brad pad chad lad

Questions

How do you pronounce tad?: The recorded pronunciation is /tæd/.
What does tad mean?: A small amount; a little bit.
Where does tad come from?: 1877, ‘young or small child’, probably a shortened form of tadpole. The extended meaning ‘small amount’ is first recorded 1915.

How to pronounce tad

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “tad”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/tæd/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “tad”.
Repeat and practice — Say “tad” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.