catty


Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Financial, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

catty

malevolent; bitchy; nasty; spiteful: She made a catty remark about her ex-husband’s new girlfriend.
Not to be confused with:
caddie – a person who carries a golf player’s clubs; a rigid wheeled device for moving heavy objects: a luggage caddie; to work as a caddie: I caddie at the country club golf course.
caddy – a container for holding or storing items such as pencils, silverware, food, etc.: a dessert caddy
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

cat·ty 1

 (kăt′ē)
adj. cat·ti·er, cat·ti·est
1. Subtly cruel or malicious; spiteful: a catty remark.
2. Catlike; stealthy.

cat′ti·ly adv.
cat′ti·ness n.

cat·ty 2

also cat·tie  (kăt′ē)
n. pl. cat·ties
Any of various units of weight used in Southeast Asia, especially a Chinese measure equal to 500 grams (approximately 1.1 pounds).

[Malay kati.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

catty

(ˈkætɪ) or

cattish

adj, -tier or -tiest
1. informal spiteful: a catty remark.
2. of or resembling a cat
ˈcattily, ˈcattishly adv
ˈcattiness, ˈcattishness n

catty

(ˈkætɪ) or

cattie

n, pl -ties
(Units) a unit of weight, used esp in E Asia, traditionally equal to about one and a half pounds but formalized as 0.5 kg in mainland China, 0.6 kg in Taiwan and Thailand, and about 0.605 kg in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore. (Mandarin) Chinese name: jin
[C16: from Malay kati]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cat•ty1

(ˈkæt i)

adj. -ti•er, -ti•est.
1. slyly malicious; spiteful.
2. catlike; feline.
[1885–90]
cat′ti•ly, adv.
cat′ti•ness, n.

cat•ty2

(ˈkæt i)

n., pl. -ties.
(in China and SE Asia) a weight equal to about 1½ pounds (680 grams) avoirdupois.
[1545–55; < Malay kati]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.catty - any of various units of weight used in southeastern Asia (especially a Chinese measure equal to 500 grams)
Cathay, China, Communist China, mainland China, People's Republic of China, PRC, Red China - a communist nation that covers a vast territory in eastern Asia; the most populous country in the world
weight unit, weight - a unit used to measure weight; "he placed two weights in the scale pan"
Adj.1.catty - marked by or arising from malice; "a catty remark"
malicious - having the nature of or resulting from malice; "malicious gossip"; "took malicious pleasure in...watching me wince"- Rudyard Kipling
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

catty

adjective spiteful, mean, malicious, malevolent, venomous, bitchy (informal), snide, rancorous, backbiting, shrewish, ill-natured She had to put up with catty remarks about her appearance.
kind, generous, pleasant, charitable, compassionate, benevolent, considerate
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
Translations
خَبيث، حَقود، ماكِر
falešnýzlomyslný
ondskabsfuldspydig
illkvittinn

catty

[ˈkætɪ] ADJ (cattier (compar) (cattiest (superl))) [person, remark] → malicioso
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

catty

[ˈkæti] adj [woman, remark] → vache
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

catty

adj (+er)gehässig, boshaft
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

catty

[ˈkætɪ] adj (-ier (comp) (-iest (superl))) (fam) → maligno/a, dispettoso/a
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

cat

(kӕt) noun
1. a small, four-legged, fur-covered animal often kept as a pet. a Siamese cat.
2. a large wild animal of the same family (eg tiger, lion etc). the big cats.
ˈcatty adjective
spiteful, malicious. She's catty even about her best friend; catty remarks.
ˈcatcall noun
a shrill whistle showing disagreement or disapproval. the catcalls of the audience.
ˈcatfish noun
any of a family of scaleless fish with long feelers round the mouth.
ˈcatgut noun
a kind of cord made from the intestines of sheep etc, used for violin strings etc.
ˌcat's-ˈeye noun
a small, thick piece of glass fixed in the surface of a road to reflect light and guide drivers at night.
ˈcatsuit noun
a woman's close-fitting one-piece trouser suit.
ˈcattail noun
a tall plant that grows in wet places, with flowers shaped like a cat's tail.
let the cat out of the bag
to let a secret become known unintentionally.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in periodicals archive ?
Originally from Ireland, the pair were known to friends as Catty and Maggie.
Summary: London [UK], Feb 9 (ANI): Call it being catty or lack of love, but an endangered Sumatran tiger was mauled to death at London Zoo on Friday, mere moments after it was introduced to a potential mate for the first time.
Catty - my earliest musical memory is dancing around the kitchen with my parents.
Sweet, well-known for playing Pat Grove in the BBC TV series The Grove Family, was appearing as Catty in the comedy play Ring for Catty.
The Catty Corner Restaurant & Bar at 301 Mulberry St.
In a 2012 interview, Lil Kim called Minaj "very catty" and "very obnoxious."
It was a picture of a Catty and Doggy tournament at the Tonypandy Oval during the General Strike in 1926.
Chris Evans, right, gets catty and takes aim at X Factor boss Cowell.'
Judge Craig Revel Horwood and Co should be careful with their catty comments though ...they could well come back to haunt them.
KATIE Price turned into Catty Price yesterday when she appeared as a guest on Loose Women.
This Howard Hawks-directed gem saw Marilyn Monroe, above, and Jane Russell team up as, respectively, a gold-digging showgirl out to land a rich husband and her protective pal Calendar Girls (2003) A stellar cast (Julie Walters, Helen Mirren, Celia Imrie among others) tell the true tale of a WI group who strip for a charity calendar after a friend's husband dies of cancer Mean Girls (2004) A teen comedy that cast its catty spell over adults too.