catty
[ˈkʰæɾi]adjective, noun
catty is spelled C-A-T-T-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, catty means “Resembling or characteristic of a cat” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in catty?
| Letters | 5: C-A-T-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 49,368th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is catty?
Catty appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce catty?
- /ˈkæti/
- US [ˈkʰæɾi]
Catty has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-catty.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with catty
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of catty
- cattier comparative
- cattiest superlative
- catties plural
- cattys plural
- cattee
- kati
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does catty mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
informalResembling or characteristic of a cat.
catty eyes
- 2
informalWith subtle hostility in an effort to hurt, annoy, or upset (particularly in interactions between women).
noun
- 1
informalA (unit of) weight used in China which is metricated in Mainland China as exactly 0.5 kg, and approximately 0.6 kg for other places.
- 2
informalslangA catapult.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Catty in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense spiteful:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | rosse, rosserie, méchant |
| German | zickig, boshaft, gehässig, stutenbissig |
| Spanish | malicioso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does catty come from?
From cat + -y. Compare Dutch kattig, which also means “subtly hostile” and is formed the same way (kat + -ig); see also catfight.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).