Spitefully critical or malicious, especially in a subtle or indirect way. Often used to describe deliberately hurtful comments made by women about other women.
From 'cat' plus the suffix '-y', first appearing in the 1880s. The association comes from the perceived spiteful, clawing nature of cats when they fight, extended metaphorically to describe sharp-tongued, malicious behavior in humans.
The word 'catty' reflects a fascinating gender bias in language - while both men and women can be equally spiteful, this particular term is almost exclusively applied to women's behavior. It's part of a broader pattern where animal metaphors for negative traits (catty, bitchy, shrewish) disproportionately target feminine-coded behaviors.
Catty derives from gendered stereotype that women are jealous, gossip-prone, and malicious. The gendered connotation became standard in 20th-century usage.
Use 'malicious,' 'backbiting,' 'snide,' or 'spiteful' instead. These describe behavior without gendering it.
["malicious","spiteful","snide","backbiting"]
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