cattish
Americanadjective
-
catlike; feline.
-
spiteful; malicious.
Other Word Forms
- cattishly adverb
- cattishness noun
Etymology
Origin of cattish
First recorded in 1590–1600; cat ( def. ) + -ish 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His deviousness, clowning and attention-seeking have something fittingly and convincingly cattish about them.
From The Guardian • Jan. 6, 2011
Penelope is "the sly cattish wife," Odysseus "that cold-blooded egotist," Telemachus "the priggish son who yet met his master-prig in Menelaus."
From Time Magazine Archive
I have been very selfish, and cattish, and inconsiderate, Mr. Smart.
From A Fool and His Money by McCutcheon, George Barr
Bella was cattish, and she was jealous, too.
From When a Man Marries by Rinehart, Mary Roberts
If only I could retaliate in kind, couldn't I be cattish?
From The Lightning Conductor Discovers America by Williamson, C. N. (Charles Norris)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
