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: a bomb or missile that fails to explode
Examples of dud in a Sentence
Noun
The seeds must have been duds because the plants never grew.
She put on her new duds for the party.
Recent Examples on the Web
Brian Seibert, New Yorker, 13 May 2026
More troubling, the delta between a smash and a dud has never been wider.
—Brent Lang, Variety, 11 May 2026
Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Jan. 2026
In a dud finale against the Detroit Lions in 1991, Wolford got rolled up and suffered a high-ankle sprain that hobbled him throughout the postseason.
—Tim Graham, New York Times, 1 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dud
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Noun
Broadway producers also caught on to Bradley’s abilities, and hired him to fix dud numbers and even whole shows.
—Brian Seibert, New Yorker, 13 May 2026
More troubling, the delta between a smash and a dud has never been wider.
—Brent Lang, Variety, 11 May 2026
Adjective
There are no dud rooms by any stretch, but for the most lascivious stay, the new villas for 2025 are somehow even lovelier—for a POA, of course.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Jan. 2026
In a dud finale against the Detroit Lions in 1991, Wolford got rolled up and suffered a high-ankle sprain that hobbled him throughout the postseason.
—Tim Graham, New York Times, 1 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dud
Cite this Entry
“Dud.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dud. Accessed 15 May. 2026.
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