Dutch uncle
a person who criticizes or reproves with unsparing severity and frankness.
Origin of Dutch uncle
1usage note For Dutch uncle
Words Nearby Dutch uncle
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use Dutch uncle in a sentence
She has had a quarrel with Tom perhaps, and she wants me to go and talk to him like a Dutch uncle.
The Imaginary Marriage | Henry St. John Cooper
British Dictionary definitions for Dutch uncle
informal a person who criticizes or reproves frankly and severely
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with Dutch uncle
A stern, candid critic or adviser, as in When I got in trouble with the teacher again, the principal talked to me like a Dutch uncle. This expression, often put as talk to one like a Dutch uncle, presumably alludes to the sternness and sobriety attributed to the Dutch. [Early 1800s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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