catfish

[ kat-fish ]

noun,plural (especially collectively) cat·fish, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) cat·fish·es.
  1. any of the numerous fishes of the order or suborder Nematognathi (or Siluroidei), characterized by barbels around the mouth and the absence of scales.

  2. a wolffish of the genus Anarhichas.

  1. any of various other fishes having a fancied resemblance to a cat.

  2. Slang. a person who assumes a false identity or personality on the internet, especially on social media websites, as to deceive, manipulate, or swindle.

verb (used with or without object)
  1. Slang. to deceive, swindle, etc., by assuming a false identity or personality online: He fell in love with her online before he realized he'd been catfished.

Origin of catfish

1
First recorded in 1605–15; cat + fish

Words Nearby catfish

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

How to use catfish in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for catfish

catfish

/ (ˈkætˌfɪʃ) /


nounplural -fish or -fishes
  1. any of numerous mainly freshwater teleost fishes having whisker-like barbels around the mouth, esp the silurids of Europe and Asia and the horned pouts of North America

  2. another name for wolffish

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