caitiff

[ key-tif ]
See synonyms for caitiff on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a base, despicable person.

adjective
  1. base; despicable.

Origin of caitiff

1
1250–1300; Middle English caitif<Anglo-French <Latin captīvuscaptive

Words Nearby caitiff

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use caitiff in a sentence

  • "Then I wash my hands of it all," cried the little self-deceiving caitiff; and he affected to have nothing to do with it.

  • "The misproud and amphibious caitiff puts the monk upon me," said Richard to the Earl of Salisbury.

    The Talisman | Sir Walter Scott
  • The tyrant came to him, and with the poor caitiff's own whinger first struck him in the breast, and afterwards cast it at him.

  • Alas that ever such a caitiff-knight as I am should have power by unhappiness to hurt the most noblest knight of the world.

  • The caitiff yields quickest; the man who loves danger and adventure holds out longest.

    Damn! | Henry Louis Mencken

British Dictionary definitions for caitiff

caitiff

/ (ˈkeɪtɪf) archaic, or poetic /


noun
  1. a cowardly or base person

adjective
  1. cowardly; base

Origin of caitiff

1
C13: from Old French caitif prisoner, from Latin captīvus captive

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012