-fish

suffix

Forming terms denoting disingenuous ways by which people seek to attract attention, especially on a dating app.

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Meanings

suffix-fish (verb-forming suffix, third-person singular simple present -fishes, present participle -fishing, simple past and past participle -fished)

present singular third person -fishes · participle present -fishing · participle past -fished · past -fished

  1. neologismForming terms denoting disingenuous ways by which people seek to attract attention, especially on a dating app.

    "As long as men height-fish, income-fish, marital status-fish, I will keep hood fishing!!!!" said another.

    2024 August 10, Deirdre Bardolf, anonymous quotee, “What is 'hoodfishing'? The sneaky new trend singles are trying to cast a wider net in NYC”, in New York Post, New York, N.Y.: News Corp, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 Sep 2024
    1 more example

    According to Jared Freid, a 39-year-old comedian and co-host of the dating podcast "U Up?," this is known as hoodfishing, a coinage — though not his own — referring to people claiming to be from the city they are dating in but really are living somewhere else entirely.

    2024 August 29, Gina Cherelus, “The Irresistible Urge to Change Your Location on a Dating App”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 Oct 2024

Origin

Back-formation from catfish.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

-fish. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-fish

MLA

“-fish.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-fish. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-fish,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-fish.

Source: -fish on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.