Refine this word faster
Catfish
Definitions
- 1 Any fish of the order Siluriformes, mainly found in fresh water, lacking scales, and having barbels like whiskers around the mouth. countable, uncountable
"“You don’t see catfish that big anymore, except in Chernobyl […] Nobody fishes there anymore, so the catfish thrive. They’ve gotten really enormous, some even twelve or thirteen feet long. They’re bottom-feeders, and apparently the mud still contains a lot of radioactive particles, but the catfish don’t seem to mind.”"
- 2 Someone who creates a false profile on a social media platform in order to deceive people. Internet
"Real people in a picture that was used by a catfish to create a fake identity could have a claim because their likeness was used without permission, Shear said."
- 3 any of numerous mostly freshwater bottom-living fishes of Eurasia and North America with barbels like whiskers around the mouth wordnet
- 4 The meat of such a fish, popular in the Southern U.S. and Central Europe. countable, uncountable
- 5 Such a false profile. Internet
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 large ferocious northern deep-sea food fishes with strong teeth and no pelvic fins wordnet
- 7 flesh of scaleless food fish of the southern United States; often farmed wordnet
- 1 To fish for catfish. intransitive
"I only use this rod for catfishing."
- 2 To create and operate a fake online profile to deceive (someone). Internet, slang, transitive
"Getting catfished is when someone falls for a person online who is not necessarily real. It can involve pictures, phone calls, social media profiles, text messages, e-mails and even phony friends or family members."
- 3 To deceive someone by professing romantic feelings but actually using a false identity wordnet
Etymology
From cat + fish. Likely so named for its prominent barbels like a cat's whiskers. Compare West Frisian katfisk (“catfish”), Dutch katvis (“catfish”). Compare also German Seekatze (“catfish”, literally “sea-cat”).
From cat + fish. Likely so named for its prominent barbels like a cat's whiskers. Compare West Frisian katfisk (“catfish”), Dutch katvis (“catfish”). Compare also German Seekatze (“catfish”, literally “sea-cat”).
From the 2010 documentary Catfish, supposedly inspired by the practice of fishermen keeping cod active by storing them with catfish (see sense 1) which nip at their tails.
From the 2010 documentary Catfish, supposedly inspired by the practice of fishermen keeping cod active by storing them with catfish (see sense 1) which nip at their tails.
See also for "catfish"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Unscramble this word: catfish