wildcatter

noun

wild·​cat·​ter ˈwī(-ə)l(d)-ˌka-tər 

1

: one that drills wells in the hope of finding oil in territory not known to be an oil field

2

: one that promotes unsafe and unreliable enterprises

especially : one that sells stocks in such enterprises

3

: one that designs, builds, or fires wildcat cartridges and firearms

4

: a worker who goes out on a wildcat strike

Did you know?

Messing with a wildcat, such as a lynx, can be a pretty risky undertaking, but ferocious felines played only an indirect role in the development of the word wildcatter. That term has been used in English since the late 19th century, along with the verb "wildcat," which refers to the risky practice of drilling experimental oil wells in territory not known to produce oil. English-speakers associated "wildcat" with risk-taking ventures after a number of U.S. banks fraudulently issued banknotes with little or no capital to back them up. Supposedly, the banknotes issued by one particular bank bore the image of a panther or, as it was known locally, a "wildcat," and it was those risky notes that led to the financial risk-taking senses of "wildcat" and "wildcatter."

Examples of wildcatter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But the dawn of the oil age in the mid-19th and early 20th centuries and the allure of black gold attracted a new crowd: wildcatters and fortune-hunters from the United States and Europe, drawn to a backwater heretofore known for coffee, cacao and cattle. —Mery Mogollón, Los Angeles Times, 15 Feb. 2026

Continental Resources was founded by an Enid wildcatter. —Josh Kelly, Oklahoman, 11 Feb. 2026

The studio was then owned by wildcatter Marvin Davis, a six-foot-four, three-hundred-pound man of Falstaffian appetites. —Gabriel Sherman, HollywoodReporter, 3 Feb. 2026

Private wildcatters and smaller shale oil companies have shown more enthusiasm about the potential opportunity in the South American nation. —Spencer Kimball, CNBC, 3 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1883, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for wildcatter

• backscatter
• antimatter
• atter
• batter
• blatter
• catarrh
• chatter
• clatter
• fatter
• flatter
• hatter
• latter

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