catchword

noun

catch·​word ˈkach-ˌwərd 

ˈkech-

1

a

: a word under the right-hand side of the last line on a book page that repeats the first word on the following page

b

: guide word

2

: catchphrase sense 1

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Reliability has become the catchword for Texas’ electric industry since February 2021. —Dallas News, 18 Aug. 2022

Said to be a mashup of the words snowy and neckdown, the catchphrase or catchword was reportedly popularized via Twitter in 2014. —Lance Eliot, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2022

Narcissism has become a catchword to describe pretty much anyone who's vain, self-obsessed, and craves the spotlight. —Health.com, 20 Apr. 2021

Fueled by international competition and the reality of robust economic expansion in many nations, growth had quickly become the catchword of the day in economics departments and government bureaucracies. —Christopher F. Jones, The New Republic, 1 Oct. 2019

Now, in the era of Deng Xiaoping with reform the catchword, politics seemed muddled and mixed up in a new way, and Li was acquiring a name as a conservative. —The Economist, 25 July 2019

Indeed, this may be a tough suit to win for Hall and Butler, as the Copyright Act does not protect short phrases including catchwords, catchphrases, mottoes, slogans or short advertising expressions. —Peter Helman, Billboard, 19 Sep. 2017

And for the millennials who grew up watching it, FernGully became a catchword—then hashtag—for areas of abundant, pristine earth. —Chantel Tattoli, VanityFair.com, 25 Apr. 2017

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Word History

First Known Use

1693, in the meaning defined at sense 1a