plural dummies
1
a
dated, offensive
: a person who is incapable of speaking
b
: a person who is habitually silent
c
: a stupid person
He's no dummy.
She loves you, you dummy.
2
3
: an imitation, copy, or likeness of something used as a substitute: such as
a
: mannequin
a crash test dummy
b
football
: a stuffed figure or cylindrical bag used for tackling (see tackle entry 2 sense 1b) and blocking practice
c
entertainment
: a large puppet usually having movable features (such as mouth and arms) manipulated by a ventriloquist
d
chiefly British
: pacifier sense 2
4
: one seeming to act independently but in reality controlled by another
a dummy for the real store owner
5
printing
a
: a mock-up of a proposed publication (such as a book or magazine)
b
: a set of pages (as for a newspaper or magazine) with the position of text and artwork indicated for the printer (see printer sense a)
1
a
: having the appearance of being real : artificial
dummy foods in the display case
b
: existing in name only : fictitious
dummy corporations
2
: apparently acting for oneself while really acting for or at the direction of another
a dummy director
dummied; dummying
publishing
: to make a dummy (see dummy entry 1 sense 5) of (something, such as a publication)
—often used with up
dummied up the front page
Examples of dummy in a Sentence
Noun
She loves you, you dummy.
They practiced CPR on a dummy.
The bomb was just a dummy.
Adjective
They took apart a dummy bomb.
the dummy shutters on the house are actually made of vinyl and are for decoration only
Recent Examples on the Web
Brian Truitt, USA Today, 19 Sep. 2025
Magic starred Hopkins as Corky, a magician who reaches fame alongside his ventriloquist’s dummy, the obnoxious and wisecracking Fats.
—Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2025
Mike Wall, Space.com, 16 Sep. 2025
The 14th Fighter Squadron's F-16s remained stationed at Misawa as of Friday, with its aircraft spotted dropping dummy munitions, according to official photos.
—Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
New Atlas, 9 July 2025
The fullback dummied to beat several defenders before offloading to speedster Paula Balekana, who scored the first five-pointer.
—Vitas Carosella, Forbes.com, 28 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for dummy
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
Harold Lloyd is the title rookie who gets to Tate University looking for football glory and maybe a girlfriend, too, and quickly becomes the resident tackling dummy in a template for sports and college comedies that followed.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 19 Sep. 2025
Magic starred Hopkins as Corky, a magician who reaches fame alongside his ventriloquist’s dummy, the obnoxious and wisecracking Fats.
—Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
Flight 10 went well; Starship notched all of its main mission milestones, including its first-ever payload deployment in space (eight dummy versions of SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellites).
—Mike Wall, Space.com, 16 Sep. 2025
The 14th Fighter Squadron's F-16s remained stationed at Misawa as of Friday, with its aircraft spotted dropping dummy munitions, according to official photos.
—Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
Verb
Adding plastic coyote dummies to ride on the platforms provided them with the right balance of cute and alarming at a total cost of about US$3,000 each.
—New Atlas, 9 July 2025
The fullback dummied to beat several defenders before offloading to speedster Paula Balekana, who scored the first five-pointer.
—Vitas Carosella, Forbes.com, 28 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for dummy
Cite this Entry
“Dummy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dummy. Accessed 20 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
dummy
1 of 2 noun
dum·my
ˈdəm-ē 
plural dummies
1
: a person who lacks or seems to lack the power of speech
2
: a stupid person
3
: an imitation used as a substitute for something: as
b
: a large puppet usually having movable features (as mouth and arms) controlled by a ventriloquist
4
a
: the bridge hand of the partner of the player who wins the bid that is placed face up and played by the bid winner
b
: a bridge player whose hand is a dummy
dummy
2 of 2 adjective1
: having the appearance of being real but lacking ability to function
dummy hinges for ornament
2
: existing in name only : fictitious
a dummy corporation
Medical Definition
dummy
2 of 2 adjective
: being a placebo
those who unknowingly receive a dummy pill instead of the real thing—Nicholas Wade
Nicholas WadeLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share