cat·fish
ˈkat-ˌfish
1
: any of an order (Siluriformes) of chiefly freshwater stout-bodied scaleless bony fishes having long tactile barbels
2
: a person who sets up a false personal profile on a social networking site for fraudulent or deceptive purposes
catfished; catfishing; catfishes
1
intransitive
: to fish for catfish
… Bob was catfishing off a floating Ohio River dock near Eight Mile Road east of Cincinnati one early summer evening …—Kentucky Happy Hunting Ground
2
transitive
: to deceive (someone) by creating a false personal profile online
"They never actually met. She was an online thing. They'd been talking for over a year. We were all pretty sure she was catfishing him, but he was convinced she was legit and that they were in love."—R. L. Naquin
"Heather" stopped messaging me abruptly several months after we started talking. She was a grown woman, and I never lied about how young I was. Even so, I've never been quite sure which one of us was being catfished.—Vanessa Vitiello Uruhart
see also catfish entry 1 sense 2
catfishing
noun
… this novel is timely due to recent high-profile examples of "catfishing"—where an individual creates a false online identity, often with deceptive or malicious romantic goals.
—Ryan F. Paulsen
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
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