Phrase guide

cat's meow

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: /ˌkætsmiˈaʊ̯/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A self-satisfied person.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated, idiomatic, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A highly sought-after and fancy example of something.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated, idiomatic, uncountable

Examples

  • That new car was really the cat’s meow.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cat's ass, kitty's titties, all that and a bag of chips, antelope's cantaloupes, ant's pants, bee's knees, bollocks, cat's meow, cat's pajamas, cat's pyjamas, cat's whiskers, cream of the crop, crème de la crème, da bomb, dog's bollocks, dog's dangly bits, finger-lickin' good, finger-licking good, flea's eyebrows, fox's socks, greatest thing since sliced bread, gold standard, llama's pajamas, mutt's nuts, ne plus ultra, spider's ankles, the bomb, the business, the shit, the tits

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.