Use dummy for a physical or planned stand-in, from a shop mannequin to a crash-test figure, ventriloquist puppet, inert bomb, or book mock-up.
Use dummy for a physical or planned stand-in, from a shop mannequin to a crash-test figure, ventriloquist puppet, inert bomb, or book mock-up.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| The crash-test dummy drove the car away. | The crash-test dummy was strapped into the car. |
| The boutique hired a dummy to greet customers. | The boutique placed a dummy in the window. |
| The printer sent the finished novel as a dummy. | The printer sent a dummy to show the novel's layout. |
Use dummy before a noun for fake, trial, placeholder, or nominal items such as dummy cameras, dummy runs, dummy pills, or dummy variables.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| The company account dummy hid the owner. | The dummy company account hid the owner. |
| We ran a dummy of the evacuation. | We ran a dummy evacuation drill. |
| The regression used a false variable for region. | The regression used a dummy variable for region. |
Use dummy only in informal speech for a foolish mistake or person, and avoid it when a neutral description is needed.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| The report concluded that the applicant was a dummy. | The report concluded that the applicant made a serious error. |
| The calculator is a dummy because it stopped working. | The calculator is broken because it stopped working. |
| She is dummy at chess. | She is a dummy at chess. |
Use dummy with care for a silent, inactive, or controlled person, and avoid the dated offensive sense for someone unable to speak.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| The witness was born a dummy. | The witness was unable to speak. |
| Maria stayed quiet in the meeting, so she was a dummy. | Maria stayed quiet in the meeting. |
| The owner was a dummy for the public director. | The public director was a dummy for the owner. |
Use dummy for a baby's pacifier in UK, Irish, Australian, and similar English, while pacifier is the usual American term.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| The baby slept with a mannequin in her mouth. | The baby slept with a dummy in her mouth. |
| The shop window dummy soothed the baby. | The baby's dummy soothed her. |
| In British English, pacifier is always the ordinary word. | In British English, dummy is the ordinary word. |
Use dummy in bridge for the exposed hand or the partner who stops choosing plays once the hand is laid down.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| The dummy secretly chose the next card. | The declarer chose the next card from dummy. |
| North insulted South by calling him dummy. | North became dummy after the opening lead. |
| The dummy hand stayed hidden until the end. | The dummy hand was exposed after the opening lead. |
Use dummy with up or in when a layout is being mocked up before final text, images, or production work is ready.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| The designer dummyed the cover. | The designer dummied the cover. |
| We dummied the payment system for real customers. | We simulated the payment system for real customers. |
| She will dummied in the photos tomorrow. | She will dummy in the photos tomorrow. |
Use dummy in football, rugby, and similar sports for a deliberate feint that draws an opponent away from the real play.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| The striker dummyed the defender with a punch. | The striker dummied the defender with a feint. |
| He dummied his tax return. | He falsified his tax return. |
| The winger dummy the pass yesterday. | The winger dummied the pass yesterday. |
Choose the sense from the setting: display and testing use the stand-in noun, fake or placeholder items take the adjective, babies take the British noun, bridge and sport have their own technical meanings.
The baby dummy is confused with a mannequin, and the adjective is misplaced after the noun instead of before it.
Formed from dumb plus -y, first used as a noun in the late sixteenth century and later extended to artificial substitutes, mock-ups, and feints.
What does dummy mean?
Dummy can mean a stand-in model or copy, a fake or placeholder item, a foolish person, a British pacifier, a bridge hand, or a sports feint.
Is dummy rude?
Dummy is rude when it means a foolish person, and its older use for someone unable to speak is offensive.
What is a dummy in British English?
In British English, a dummy is often a baby's pacifier, as well as a model or stand-in.
What is a dummy variable?
A dummy variable is a placeholder indicator, usually coded 0 or 1, that represents a category in a model.
What is a dummy in bridge?
In bridge, dummy is the declarer's partner or that partner's exposed hand, which the declarer plays.
Can dummy be an adjective?
Yes. Dummy can describe something fake, trial, placeholder, or nominal, as in dummy camera, dummy run, or dummy company.
What is the past tense of dummy?
The past tense is dummied, and the present participle is dummying.
What does dummy mean in sport?
In sport, to dummy is to feint, pretending to pass, kick, receive, or move one way to mislead an opponent.
Where does dummy come from?
Dummy comes from dumb plus -y, with early uses tied to silence before the word broadened to stand-ins and fake things.