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dada Definition

dada (dä′dä′, -də)

noun

a movement (1916-22) in painting, sculpture, and literature characterized by fantastic, abstract, or incongruous creations, by rejection of all accepted conventions, and by nihilistic satire

Etymology: Fr, lit., hobbyhorse (< baby talk, altered < ? dia dia, giddap), selected by Tristan Tzara, leader of the cult, because of its resemblance to meaningless babble, as symbolic of the movement

dada Related Forms
da′·da·ist adjective, noun da′·da·is′·tic adjective
dada Usage Examples

Noun used with modifier

  • word: The knife hit the word dada, so that is what they named their group.
  • planet: His compilations have a beautiful flow like a radio transmission from planet dada.
Dada Quotes

Dada began not as an art form but as a disgust.

—Tzara,Tristan pseudonym of Samy Rosenstock

Liberte¤  :, hurlement de couleurs crispe¤  es, entrelacements des contraires et de toutes les contradictions, des grotesques, des inconse¤  quences:. Freedom:, a howl of unnerving colours, intertwinings of contrarities and contradictions, of the grotesque, of inconsistencies:.

—Tzara,Tristan pseudonym of Samy Rosenstock

Dada ne signifie rien. Dada means nothing.

—Tzara,Tristan pseudonym of Samy Rosenstock

The mama of dada.

—Fadiman, Clifton

Browse dictionary entries near dada

  1. ‹ dad
  2. ‹ -dactyly
  3. ‹ -dactylous
  4. ‹ dactylology
  5. ‹ dactylography
  6. ‹ dactylogram
  7. ‹ dactylo-
  8. ‹ dactylic
  9. ‹ dactyl
  10. ‹ DACS
  1. daddy ›
  2. daddy longlegs ›
  3. dado ›
  4. Dadra and Nagar Haveli ›
  5. DAE ›
  6. daedal ›
  7. Daedalian ›
  8. Daedalus ›
  9. daemon ›
  10. Daemons ›