catty
Resembling or characteristic of a catResembling or characteristic of a cat.
» Let's not be catty.
CM · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
2 senses(informal, literally)Resembling or characteristic of a cat.
catty eyes
I heard a catty shriek.
(broadly, informal)With subtle hostility in an effort to hurt, annoy, or upset (particularly in interactions between women).
zickig, boshaft, gehässig
зло́бныйzlóbnyj, озло́бленныйozlóblennyj, злойzloj
- marked by or arising from malice
Examples
4 sentencesLet's not be catty.
Let us weigh one catty of cuttlefish.
Tom made a catty joke about Mary's dress being from a thrift shop.
Ziri named the cat Catty.
Translations
5 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
From cat + -y. Compare Dutch kattig, which also means “subtly hostile” and is formed the sFrom cat + -y. Compare Dutch kattig, which also means “subtly hostile” and is formed the same way (kat + -ig); see also catfight.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
cattier, cattiestSynonyms
8 synonymsWord family
7 related wordsLessons for this word
2 lessons- A2Comparatives — Because it has a comparative form
- A2Superlatives — Because it has a superlative form
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.