kiddy

See also: Kiddy

English

Etymology

From kid + -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɪdi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  • (US, Canada) IPA^(key): [ˈkʰɪɾi]
  • (New Zealand) IPA^(key): [ˈkʰɘɾiː]
• Rhymes: -ɪdi
• Homophone: kitty (US, Canada, New Zealand)

Noun

kiddy (plural kiddies)

1. A small kid (young goat).
2. (colloquial) Alternative spelling of kiddie (“a child”).
3. (slang, now rare) A man, a fellow; a person.
   • 1970, Jim Bouton, Ball Four, New York, page 22:

     So what I do kiddies, is work hard, stay in shape, practice.

   • 2025, Thomas Pynchon, Shadow Ticket, Jonathan Cape, page 93:

     Chazz is a gangland kiddy of the more amiable sort who all his life has wanted to be taken for menacing […] .

4. (obsolete, UK, slang) A low thief.

Derived terms

• kiddyish
• kiddy pool

Verb

kiddy (third-person singular simple present kiddies, present participle kiddying, simple past and past participle kiddied)

1. (archaic) To kid; to hoax or tease.
   • 1850 September 14, [Charles Dickens], “Three “Detective” Anecdotes”, in Charles Dickens, editor, Household Words. A Weekly Journal., volume I, number 25, London: Office, […], →OCLC:

     But some of the Swell Mob, on the occasion of this Derby that I refer to, so far kiddied us as to hire a horse and shay; start away from London by Whitechapel, and miles round; come into Epsom from the opposite direction; […]

Adjective

kiddy (comparative kiddier, superlative kiddiest)

1. (informal) Childish.
   • 2013, Nico Vermeir, Windows 8 App Projects - XAML and C# Edition, page 193:

     The concept is really old, the graphics look very kiddy, and the creators are making millions off it.

References

• (man or boy; thief): 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary