Dauber
name, noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 One who, or that which, daubs; especially, a coarse, unskillful painter. derogatory
"After he had exerted all his powers to produce a masterpiece of art, the canons, upon viewing the picture, pronounced it a contemptible performance, and the artist a miserable dauber; and Vandyck could hardly obtain payment for his work."
- 2 an unskilled painter wordnet
- 3 A pad or ball of rags, covered with canvas, for inking plates.
- 4 A type of thick marker pen used to mark a bingo card.
"Said she wasn't going but she went still / Likes her gentlemen not to be gentle / Was it a Mecca dauber or a betting pencil?"
- 5 A low and gross flatterer. archaic
Show 1 more definition
- 6 The mud wasp; the mud dauber.
- 1 A surname from German.
Example
More examples"After he had exerted all his powers to produce a masterpiece of art, the canons, upon viewing the picture, pronounced it a contemptible performance, and the artist a miserable dauber; and Vandyck could hardly obtain payment for his work."
Etymology
From Middle English daubere, equivalent to daub + -er.
Borrowed from German Dauber.
Related phrases
More for "dauber"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.