cougar

American  

[koo-ger] / ˈku gər /

noun

plural

cougars,

plural

cougar

1. Also called mountain lion, panther, puma.  a large, tawny cat, Felis concolor, of North and South America: now greatly reduced in number and endangered in some areas.

2. Informal. an older woman who seeks sexual relationships with much younger men.

   He's in his twenties, but he prefers cougars in their forties and fifties to young women his own age.

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cougar British  

/ ˈkuːɡə /

noun

1. another name for puma

2. slang a woman in her 30s or 40s who actively pursues casual sexual relationships with young men

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Etymology

Origin of cougar

First recorded in 1765–75; from French couguar, from New Latin cuguacu ara, cuguacuarana, apparently a misrepresentation of either Guarani guaçu ara or Portuguese çuçuarana, suçuarana (from Tupi susuarana )

Example Sentences

The research comes as wolf and cougar territories increasingly overlap across the western United States.

From Science Daily • Mar. 3, 2026

To better understand how evolution shaped these sounds, the researchers compared domestic cat meows with those of five wild cat species: African wildcat, European wildcat, jungle cat, cheetah, and cougar.

From Science Daily • Feb. 11, 2026

Pratt’s stuffed cougar, representing the late P-22 whose bachelor life trapped in Griffith Park helped inspire the project, sat placidly amid workers moving native plants onto the site.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2026

Stage 2, the final phase, will connect the structure to the hills at the north and south so that wildlife, like L.A.’s famous, ill-fated cougar, P-22, can use it.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2025

Inside she placed her couch, cougar skins, an Axminister carpet, rocking chairs, and assorted other artifacts of domestic life.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Related Words

• mountain lion
• panther