Standard Lemma guide

cattiness

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

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The quality of being catty; cattishness

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Examples

  • 2004 Ward Hunt et.al. - James Bowdoin and the Patriot Philosophers Who had been tapped for the new society, and why, had become a topic of local gossip, conjecture, and even cattiness.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

malevolence by virtue of being malicious or spiteful or nasty

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bitchiness, spite, spitefulness, nastiness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: malevolence, malevolency, malice

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English catty Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English cattiness From catty + -ness.