katydid

noun

ka·​ty·​did ˈkā-tē-ˌdid 

: any of various large green American long-horned grasshoppers usually having stridulating organs on the forewings of the males that produce a loud shrill sound

Illustration of katydid

Did you know?

Some animal names have been created through imitation of the sounds the animals make. The name katydid is an example of this process. These insects were given this name because the noise they make was thought to sound like “Katy-did, Katy-didn't” repeated over and over.

Examples of katydid in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Shirley Jackson writes in The Haunting of Hill House’s opening paragraph, No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. —Literary Hub, 5 Mar. 2026

To learn more about what the matador bugs are doing, a team from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) exposed the bugs to two different types of arthropods–praying mantids and katydids. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 11 Sep. 2025

No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. —Kevin Dickinson, Big Think, 8 Aug. 2025

Don’t rule out those nocturnal singers, the katydids, and their brothers, the katydid-nots. —Clarence Schmidt, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

imitative

First Known Use

1784, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for katydid

• fatimid
• amid
• eyelid
• forbid
• majid
• outbid
• outdid
• plasmid
• turbid
• undid
• bid
• did

Kids Definition

katydid

noun

ka·​ty·​did ˈkāt-ē-ˌdid 

: any of various large green American grasshoppers with very long antennae and males that make a high-pitched noise using sound-producing organs on the forewings

Etymology

imitation

Word Origin

Some animal names have been created through imitation of the sounds the animals make. The name katydid is an example of this process. These insects were given this name because the noise they make was thought of as sounding like "Katy-did, Katy-didn't" repeated over and over.