Meanings
dada1
dada2
- uncountableAlternative letter-case form of Dada (“cultural movement”).
Dada3
- uncountableA cultural movement that began in Zürich, Switzerland during and as a reaction to World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1920, which primarily involved visual arts, literature (mainly poetry), theatre, and graphic design, and was characterized by deliberate irrationality, disillusionment, cynicism, nihilism, randomness, and rejection of the prevailing standards in art.
Ironically enough, it was the anti-war stirrings of Dada that bore out its most immediate influence, first in Switzerland and then post-war Berlin.
2014 October 30, Ara Merjian, “How World War I gave birth to the modern”, in CNN
DADA4
- abbreviationinitialismInitialism of Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk
nouna nihilistic art movement (especially in painting) that flourished in Europe early in the 20th century; based on irrationality and negation of the accepted laws of beauty
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Dada · noun
- Frenchdada
- EnglishDada
From French dada (literally “hobby horse”).
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan dadà, dadaisme
- dadàcultural movement — see also dadaism
- dadaismecultural movement — see also dadaism
Chinese Mandarin 達達主義 /达达主义
- 達達主義 /达达主义 (dádázhǔyì)cultural movement — see also dadaism
Czech dadaismus
- dadaismuscultural movement — see also dadaism
Dutch dadaïsme, dada
- dadaïsmecultural movement — see also dadaism
- dadacultural movement — see also dadaism
Finnish dadaismi, dada
- dadaismicultural movement — see also dadaism
- dadacultural movement — see also dadaism
German Dadaismus
- Dadaismuscultural movement — see also dadaism
Hebrew דאדא, דאדאיזם
- דאדא (dáda)cultural movement — see also dadaism
- דאדאיזם (dadaízm)cultural movement — see also dadaism
Polish dadaizm
- dadaizmcultural movement — see also dadaism
Russian дадаи́зм
- дадаи́зм (dadaízm)cultural movement — see also dadaism
Spanish dadaísmo, dadá
- dadaísmocultural movement — see also dadaism
- dadácultural movement — see also dadaism
Ukrainian дадаї́зм
- дадаї́зм (dadajízm)cultural movement — see also dadaism
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
dada. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dada
“dada.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dada. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dada,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dada.
Source: dada on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.