Meanings
plural catchpennies
- A cheap item designed to attract purchasers of other goods.
Near-synonym: loss leader
Synonyms: loss leader
- A publication, etc. intended to make money, with no particular merit otherwise.
CURIOSITIES OF STREET LITERATURE: COMPRISING "COCKS," OR "CATCHPENNIES," A Large and Curious Assortment of STREET DROLLERIES, SQUIBS, HISTORIES, COMIC STORIES IN PROSE AND VERSE, […]
1886, Charles Hindley, The History of the Catnach Press, page xxiii
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA cheap item designed to attract purchasers of other goods.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivedesigned to sell quickly without concern for quality
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*kap-
- Proto-Indo-European*kapyéti
- Proto-Indo-European*kaptós
- Proto-Italic*kaptos
- Latincaptus
- Vulgar Latin*captiāre
- Old Frenchchacier
- Anglo-Normancachier
- Middle Englishcacchen
- Englishcatch
- Ancient Greekπᾰτᾰ́νη (pătắnē)
- Latinpatina
- Latinpanna?
- Latinpannus?
- Proto-Germanic*panningaz
- Proto-West Germanic*panning
- Old Englishpeniġ
- Middle Englishpeny
- Englishpenny
- Englishcatchpenny
Cite this entry
catchpenny. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catchpenny
“catchpenny.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catchpenny. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “catchpenny,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catchpenny.
Source: catchpenny on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.