Catty
/ˈkæt.i/noun
Maliciously spiteful or sharply critical, especially in a petty or gossiping way.
Did you know?The modern sense developed from long-standing Western stereotypes of cats as stealthy, capricious, and difficult to trust—not from any occult cat symbolism.
Etymological Timeline
Late Antiquity
Late Latin
cattus
“Cat; the source of the widespread European word for the animal, probably borrowed from a non-Indo-European language.”
Old English
Old English
catte
“Cat; an early Germanic borrowing related to the later English form.”
14th Century
Middle English
cat
“The domestic feline animal.”
19th Century
English
catty
“Resembling a cat; catlike in behavior or temperament.”
Late 19th Century
English
catty
“Spiteful, malicious, or given to petty criticism, especially in reference to gossip.”
Modern English
English
catty
“Sharply or spitefully critical, often in a socially petty way.”