noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A wild dog native to Australia (Canis familiaris, Canis familiaris dingo, Canis dingo, or Canis lupus dingo).

   "Dan was beginning to feel very depressed when suddenly the eerie howl of a dingo rang out[.]"

2. 2
   wolflike yellowish-brown wild dog of Australia wordnet
3. 3
   A cowardly or otherwise despicable person. Australia, informal

Verb

1. 1
   To behave in a cowardly or treacherous manner. Australia, informal, intransitive, transitive
2. 2
   To renege on an agreement or situation. Australia, informal, intransitive, transitive
3. 3
   To let down another individual. Australia, informal, intransitive, transitive

Synonyms

All synonyms

wolfanimalantelopearmadillobatcanis dingo

Example

More examples

"Layla doesn't even know what a dingo is."

Etymology

Borrowed from Dharug dingu (“tame or domesticated dingo”).

Related phrases

American dingoDingo Forestdingo fencedingo fishdingo stiffenerdingo-proofdingo’s breakfastdry as a dead dingo’s donger

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.