dudette

From dude +‎ -ette.

• IPA^(key): /d(j)uːˈdɛt/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛt

dudette (plural dudettes)

1. (slang, often humorous) A girl or woman.
   • 2015 September 23, Kimberly Pierceall, “Strait releases new album, will play Las Vegas in 2016”, in Associated Press, reproduced on Yahoo! Music‎:

     It's an album [by George Strait] with ballads and toe-tappers for those "dudes and dudettes" reminiscing about high school football games, family and life over a cold beer.

   • 2013, Judy Faust, Punch Faust, The MOTs File: Memories, Observations, and Thoughts, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 88:

     As my (metal) knees set off all the security thingies, I am subjected to touchy, feely sessions—usually by a dudette with fat, sweaty hands—before being allowed to wait at the gate for hour after hour. The Joy Of Watching Hockey It is a lovely fall.

2. (slang) A cowgirl, especially a tenderfoot.
   • 1940, Oren Arnold, John Prentiss Hale, Hot irons: heraldry of the range:

     Most memorable thing about the first branding work a dude or a dudette witnesses is likely to be the heart-rending " BAWR- R-R-R-R!" of the calf or other animal under the hot iron.

   • 1944, Minute Man:

     "Dudettes" in cowgirl outfits combed the business district of Phoenix

   • 2000, Ruth Jean Dale, Almost a Cowboy, →ISBN:

     The dudettes met their horses that morning.

3. (slang) A cowboy's wife, or a woman who moves out west with the intention of marrying a cowboy.
   • 1941, Travel:

     I'll be cow—hooked if she ain't the best looking thing that's come over the mountains since I married my own dudette!

   • 1949, Arizona Cattlelog:

     Saturday evening, March 11, the Dudettes (wives and sweethearts of the Jaycees ) will give their annual all- Western dance at Bud Brown's Barn.

   • 2005, Lesley Poling-Kempes, Ghost Ranch, University of Arizona Press, →ISBN, page 48:

     Visiting dudettes found the shy man of the land irresistible.

   • 2015, Verna Clay, Forever Kisses: Book 7 of Romance on the Ranch Series, M.O.I. Publishing, page 92:

     I can't believe a month ago I was living my life as usual, and now I'm a dudette about to become a pioneer traveling on a wagon train.

4. A girl or woman who is noted for being tough or capable.
   • 2013, Sam Kauffman, MADDY - Courage and Heart: Life Lessons From a Puppy Handbook, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 138:

     Maddy was a dainty and feminine tomboy with a disposition both loving and tough as nails. She was a “dudette” and a debutant. What could have been clashing opposites were perfectly blended in her.

• dudess

• duetted