View synonyms for how do you do

how do you do

interjection

(used as a conventional greeting.)

how-do-you-do

[ hou-duh-yuh-doo ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, Informal.

, plural how-do-you-dos.

a greeting; salutation:
She smiled and gave him a how-do-you-do fit for a king.
an awkward or unpleasant event or situation:
It's a fine how-do-you-do that they've refused to help us out.

how do you do

sentence substitute

Alsohow do?how d'ye do? a formal greeting said by people who are being introduced to each other or are meeting for the first time

noun

informal.
a difficult situation

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Word History and Origins

Origin of how do you do¹

First recorded in 1625–35

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Idioms and Phrases

A conventional greeting used mostly after being introduced to someone, as in And this is our youngest—say “How do you do” to Mr. Smith . Although it is a question, it requires no reply. Originally, in the 1600s, this expression was an inquiry after a person's health or standing, how do you do meaning “how do you fare?” Today we usually express this as How are you ? or How are you doing ? or How goes it ? or How's it going ? Even more general are the slangy locutions How are things ? or How's tricks ? All of these greetings date from the first half of the 1900s.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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