catfish
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Someone who creates a false profile on a social media platform to deceive people.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
katfishSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkætfɪʃ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Internet
Someone who creates a false profile on a social media platform in order to deceive people.
Internet
Such a false profile.
Large ferocious northern deep-sea food fishes with strong teeth and no pelvic fins
Any of numerous mostly freshwater bottom-living fishes of Eurasia and North America with barbels like whiskers around the mouth
Flesh of scaleless food fish of the southern United States; often farmed
The meat of such a fish, popular in the Southern U.S. and Central Europe.
verb
Internetslangtransitive
To create and operate a fake online profile to deceive (someone).
intransitive
To fish for catfish.
Word at a Glance
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A large catfish of the Mississippi valley.
A large catfish of the Mississippi valley.
Any of several common freshwater catfishes of the United States.
Freshwater food fish common throughout central United States.
Freshwater catfish of the Nile and tropical central Africa having an electric organ.
Large elongated catfish of central and eastern Europe.
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