Dummies

How to spell dummies

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce dummies

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does dummies mean?

1. nounModels, replicas, or imitation objects used in place of the real thing, such as test figures or display mannequins.
2. nounIn British and Commonwealth use, rubber teats given to babies to suck on for comfort.
3. nounAn informal and dismissive term for foolish or unintelligent people.

Dummies in a sentence

• The crash lab strapped two dummies into the front seats before the test.

• She packed three spare dummies in the changing bag in case one was dropped.

• Only a pair of dummies would leave the keys locked inside a running car.

• The shop window was filled with dummies wearing the new winter coats.

• The nursery sterilised all the dummies after lunch.

• The manual was written so that even complete dummies could follow it.

Where does dummies come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends from the Old English 'dumb', a word of Germanic origin meaning unable to speak, which still survives in related forms across the Germanic languages such as the German 'dumm' meaning stupid. In English the older meaning was simply 'mute', and only later did a dismissive sense of 'stupid' attach to it. The noun 'dummy' was coined in the eighteenth century from 'dumb', first describing a silent or mute person, then broadening to mean any silent stand-in: a tailor's model, a sham object, or a stuffed figure that cannot speak or act for itself. The plural 'dummies' follows the regular English rule of turning a final -y into -ies. A useful spelling memory is that the silent b of 'dumb' is dropped entirely when the suffix is added, so the word is built on 'dum-' rather than 'dumb-'.

How the word is built

• dumb (mute, later 'silent imitation')
• -y (noun-forming suffix, dropping the silent b)
• -es (plural, y changing to ie)