as in malicious
having or showing a desire to cause someone pain or suffering for the sheer enjoyment of it
a catty remark that served only to hurt their feelings
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of catty
For pro basketball fans who haven’t noticed, City Hall is catty-corner, across South Akard Street, from Memorial Auditorium, built in 1957.
—
Brad Townsend, Dallas Morning News, 15 Jan. 2026
Those unfamiliar with Miss USA — and pageantry in general — may expect that the competition is catty, with contestants vying for the sash and sparkling title.
—Zoey Lyttle, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025
And the action unfolds at an inn, catty corner to the British Museum.
—Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
Newsom and his catty social media team often boast about how well California performs compared to all other states.
—Matt Fleming, Oc Register, 6 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for catty
Brad Townsend, Dallas Morning News, 15 Jan. 2026
Those unfamiliar with Miss USA — and pageantry in general — may expect that the competition is catty, with contestants vying for the sash and sparkling title.
—Zoey Lyttle, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025
And the action unfolds at an inn, catty corner to the British Museum.
—Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
Newsom and his catty social media team often boast about how well California performs compared to all other states.
—Matt Fleming, Oc Register, 6 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for catty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for catty
Adjective
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The attack also bears similarities to the tactics of a Russian bad actor group that targeted Russian Wiki pages years ago, suggesting the malicious Javascript originated from a much earlier vandalism campaign.—
Michael Kan,
PC Magazine,
5 Mar. 2026
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In testimony Tuesday, Jared Birchall, Musk’s longtime business manager and confidante, said that his boss’s tweets four years ago were prompted by frustration, and not a malicious effort to sink the stock.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
5 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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That’s the cruel beauty of golf.—
Mike Bianchi,
The Orlando Sentinel,
7 Mar. 2026
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Few Iranians will mourn the demise of the cruel and murderous Ayatollah Khamenei or his cohorts, and a large segment of Iranians want the corrupt religious regime gone.—
Trudy Rubin,
Twin Cities,
6 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Ironically, that war emboldened Iran, as the vicious Iraqi strongman was a regional counterbalance to the vicious mullahs.—
Steven Greenhut,
Oc Register,
6 Mar. 2026
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The Islamic State, or ISIS, the most vicious terror group ever, found Iraq to be the perfect launching pad for its marauders.—
Nolan Finley,
Twin Cities,
6 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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This has allowed this unauthorized user unfettered access to those frequencies to transmit hateful and threatening messaging, potentially disrupting vital police, fire and EMS communications.—
Andy Sheehan,
CBS News,
5 Mar. 2026
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People also can pass out political literature and engage in hateful speech for the most part.—
Cate Charron,
IndyStar,
26 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Vonn’s hugely successful World Cup season at age 41 was ended by a nasty crash one month ago at the Milan Cortina Olympics that wrecked her left leg.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
6 Mar. 2026
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In the first inning of the club’s matchup with the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday afternoon, Sal Frelick waved haplessly at a nasty changeup from Edward Cabrera for his first strikeout of the day.—
Sahadev Sharma,
New York Times,
5 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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But this is the kind of last-ditch attempt to pull at her heartstrings, but Yasmin can’t help but be snide and bitchy.—
Chris Murphy,
Vanity Fair,
23 Feb. 2026
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Now that Madison’s gone, there’s just no one else working on Rodrigo’s level of bitchy comments and perfect reactions.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
19 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Catty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catty. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
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