catfight

C3A1T1F4I1G2H4T1

noun

A fight between cats.

“Nancy and Sheila got into a catfight when Nancy's boyfriend cheated on her with Sheila.”

Similar
hairpulling contestscragfight
UncommonScrabble 17
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nouncatfight (plural catfights)

plural catfights · alternative cat fight

  1. A fight between cats.

    The caterwauling from the catfight in the back yard was awful; I couldn't get to sleep until it was over.

  2. slangA fight or bickering, especially between women.

    Nancy and Sheila got into a catfight when Nancy's boyfriend cheated on her with Sheila.

    2 more examples

    Female conflict, seen in this kind of structure, works conveniently—it takes note of aggression in women and sets it against other women. Men are spared. The audience applauds. Everyone loves a catfight.

    1980, Louise Bernikow, Among Women, New York: Harmony Books, page 207

    There was a time when I would get furious and fire off an angry note if someone cast me in a catfight with a woman colleague. I assumed that catfights would fade as women progressed. They seemed so retro.

    2005, Maureen Dowd, Are Men Necessary?, →ISBN, page 310

    Synonyms: hairpulling contest, scragfight

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA fight or bickering, especially between women.

Similar
hairpulling contestscragfight

Origin

From cat + fight. So named because, like cats, scratching is a common defensive tactic among women, as opposed to a fistfight between men.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 打架, 撕逼
  • 打架 (dǎjià)fight between women — see also bitch fight
  • 撕逼 (sībī)fight between women — see also bitch fight
Finnish kissatappelu
  • kissatappelufight between women — see also bitch fight
French crêpage de chignons
  • crêpage de chignonsfight between women — see also bitch fight
German Zickenkrieg, Zickenkampf
  • Zickenkriegfight between women — see also bitch fight
  • Zickenkampffight between women — see also bitch fight
Japanese キャットファイト
  • キャットファイト (kyattofaito)fight between women — see also bitch fight
Polish bójka pomiędzy kobietami
  • bójka pomiędzy kobietamifight between women — see also bitch fight
Spanish pelea de gatas
  • pelea de gatasfight between women — see also bitch fight
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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