J-cat

noun

A mentally unstable inmate.

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Meanings

nounJ-cat (plural J-cats)

plural J-cats · alternative j-cat · alternative jaycat · alternative Cat-J

  1. USslangA mentally unstable inmate.

    Some J-CATs didn't even take medication, meaning they white-knuckle this lifestyle, possibly unaware of their deviation from reality and normality.

    2023, Justin Cook, Infectious Injustice
    1 more example

    Fuckers never see the light of day. Nevada Fucking Prisneyland, O.G.! Homos, snitches, Chomos, straight-up J-Cats, and children all P.C.'d up together, scandalous shit, dawg!

    2003, Jimmy Lerner, You Got Nothing Coming: Notes from a Prison Fish, page 77
  2. slangOne who behaves in an erratic or overly excited manner.

Origin

Short for J-Category (also Category-J), a former designation used for mentally ill prisoners in the California State Prison System.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

Source: J-cat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.