Cheetah

//ˈt͡ʃiːtə// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A distinctive member (Acinonyx jubatus) of the cat family, slightly smaller than the leopard, but with proportionately longer limbs and a smaller head; native to Africa and southeast Asia (where it is nearly extinct) and also credited with being the fastest terrestrial animal.
  2. 2
    long-legged spotted cat of Africa and southwestern Asia having nonretractile claws; the swiftest mammal; can be trained to run down game wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
acinonyx jubatusanimalantelopearmadillobatbobcat

Example

More examples

"A cheetah runs as fast as any animal."

Etymology

Borrowed from Hindi चीता (cītā, “leopard, panther”), ultimately from Sanskrit चित्र (citra, “multicolored, speckled”) (akin to Old High German haitar (“bright”) > German heiter; Old Norse heiðr (“bright”)) + Sanskrit काय (kāya, “body”), thus “having a spotted body”.

Related phrases

American cheetahdo cheetah flipsgiant cheetahking cheetahacinonyx jubatus

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.