Word.ws English Dictionary

baity

/ˈbeɪti/

baity adjective: angry, bad-tempered.

Adjective (1)

baity (comparative baitier, superlative baitiest)

  1. (UK, dated, slang) Angry, bad-tempered.
    • “Oh, sir—uncle is such a batey old chap. It was a spree! I never saw him so mad!”1907 August 17, The Rev. A. N. Malan, “The Mystery of Abbeyside School”, in The Boy's Own Paper, volume XXIX, number 1492, London: Religious Tract Society, page 4
    • ‘If Jimbug gets baity with me, like that time last week . . .’ Remembering the scene, Anthony frowned; the blood came up into his cheeks.1936, Aldous Huxley, Eyeless in Gaza, London: Chatto & Windus, page 55

Adjective (2)

baity (comparative baitier, superlative baitiest)

  1. (informal) Constituting bait (something intended to allure), especially Oscar bait or clickbait.
    • Ginger is the latest, baitiest fashion that ever helped a girl make an impression . . . . in wonderful “Spartine” colors of black, brown, navy, cranberry, moss, red and blue.1963 September 4, “Manchester’s Madison”, in The Capital Times, volume 92, number 72, Madison, Wis., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 19, column 3
    • "Hey, can we put her in the gold bikini? You know, the one like Princess Leia..." Andrew trailed off at the disgusted looks from his companions. […] "She's the first person we've captured, that's all," he muttered. "I thought it would make her look baitier."2001 November 1, Jeanny, “FIC: The Bait Bites Back, PG, 1/1”, in alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer.creative (Usenet), archived from the original on 14 May 2025

Proper noun capitalized: Baity

Baity (plural Baitys)

  1. A surname.

Examples of baity in a sentence

  • Ignore the baity headline on the IGN video, it’s not the “craziest Souls boss yet” (bloody internet hyperbole), but it’s still cool […]2015 December 20, Junglist [Jeremy Ray], “Check Out A Brand New Dark Souls 3 Boss In Action (Spoiler)”, in Kotaku Australia, archived from...
  • A far-right talking point had been turned into a clip with a baity headline, and attracted over 26,000 views.2020 June 18, James Poulter, “The Far-Right Plot to Flood Radio Airwaves with Racism”, in Vice:

Forms of baity

Adjective
comparativebaitier
superlativebaitiest
alternative formbatey
Proper noun
pluralBaitys

Origin of baity

From bait (“fit of anger”) + -y.

From bait (“something alluring”) + -y.

Words that rhyme with baity

Questions about baity

What does baity mean?
Baity means angry, bad-tempered.
How do you use baity in a sentence?
Ignore the baity headline on the IGN video, it’s not the “craziest Souls boss yet” (bloody internet hyperbole), but it’s still cool […]
What part of speech is baity?
Baity can be an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce baity?
Baity is pronounced /ˈbeɪti/.

Words near baity in the dictionary

  1. baitware
  2. baitwell
  3. baitwells
  4. baitworm
  5. baitworms
  6. baity
  7. baityloi
  8. baitylos
  9. Baitys
  10. Baiyang
  11. Baiyin

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: baity (page history and authors); Baity (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-baity.wav.

Cite this entry: “baity.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/baity. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.