Meanings
- not comparableraresimileConspicuously guilty.
OJ is as guilty as a cat in a goldfish bowl, and everybody knows it.
2000 June 13, Flykiller, “O.J. Goes on the Offensive”, in alt.rush-limbaugh (Usenet)4 more examples
But the prosecutor’s got you cold! You’re as guilty as a cat in a goldfish bowl!
1981, Daniel Goldberg (producer), Heavy Metal (film), Canadian Film DevelopmentSitting in a comfy air-conditioned cell watching cable tv while waiting for their state-appointed lawyer to spring them on a loophole even though they're as guilty as a cat in a goldfish bowl. The victim is still dead and therefore has no rights.
1994 November 11, Brad Ensminger, “Hang 'Em High”, in alt.activism.death-penalty (Usenet)What are you talking about, Ezra? He's as guilty as a cat in a goldfish bowl. Sheriff Schadenfreude had been tracking his movements and connections for some time.”
2012, Michael Juge, Refurbished Soul, Book Three of the Shift Trilogy, page 140If circumstantial evidence can also be thrown on the scales in assessing the HOLC's culpability, that evidence also tends to exonerate the HOLC, while making the FHA look as guilty as a cat in a goldfish bowl.
2025, George Selgin, False Dawn, The New Deal and the Promise of Recovery, 1933–1947
Cite this entry
guilty as a cat in a goldfish bowl. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/guilty%20as%20a%20cat%20in%20a%20goldfish%20bowl
“guilty as a cat in a goldfish bowl.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/guilty%20as%20a%20cat%20in%20a%20goldfish%20bowl. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “guilty as a cat in a goldfish bowl,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/guilty%20as%20a%20cat%20in%20a%20goldfish%20bowl.
Source: guilty as a cat in a goldfish bowl on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.