Word.ws English Dictionary

cat that ate the canary

cat that ate the canary noun: a person who appears self-satisfied or smug, especially while concealing something mischievous, prohibited, or private.

Noun

cat that ate the canary

  1. (idiomatic) A person who appears self-satisfied or smug, especially while concealing something mischievous, prohibited, or private.
    • He talked freely and carried the smile of the cat that swallowed the canary.1910 April 30, “Cotton Bulls Stand Shock of Deliveries”, in New York Times, page 2
    • You have to hand it to Curtis Joseph. Not only does he keep pucks out of the net, he keeps secrets too. "It's taboo," said Joseph, grinning like the cat that ate the canary. "You're not going to get anything."2001 April 25, “Joseph hints at hurt hand”, in cbcsports.ca, Canada, retrieved 09 Aug 2008
  2. (idiomatic) A person whose appearance and behavior suggest guilt mixed with other qualities, such as satisfaction or feigned nonchalance.
    • Like the cat that swallowed the canary. Not only do you feel a little bit guilty 'cause you can't stop, but you feel pretty good, too.2001 February 12, “Daytona 500: Andretti on Italian food, breakfast cereal and going fast”, in CNN/Sports Illustrated, retrieved 09 Aug 2008
    • Daley said that Tietjen, who lives in Middle Island, had the "cat who ate the canary" look when he was pulled over. The 32-year-old driver was apologetic, and never tried to dispute the ticket.2007 February 24, Lorena Mongelli, Eric Lenkowitz, “Idiot & Dummy: 'Car Fool' Cheater Nailed in HOV Lane”, in New York Post, retrieved 09 Aug 2008

cat that ate the canary meaning in Bengali

cat that ate the canary in Bengali

নিষিদ্ধ, ব্যক্তিগত কিছু গোপন করে

Forms of cat that ate the canary

alternative formcat that swallowed the canary

Questions about cat that ate the canary

What does cat that ate the canary mean?
Cat that ate the canary means a person who appears self-satisfied or smug, especially while concealing something mischievous, prohibited, or private.
What is cat that ate the canary in Bengali?
Cat that ate the canary in Bengali is নিষিদ্ধ, ব্যক্তিগত কিছু গোপন করে. See Cat that ate the canary meaning in Bengali.
What part of speech is cat that ate the canary?
Cat that ate the canary is a noun.

Words near cat that ate the canary in the dictionary

  1. cat states
  2. cat stretch
  3. cat stretches
  4. cat tax
  5. cat taxes
  6. cat that ate the canary
  7. cat that got the cream
  8. cat that swallowed the canary
  9. cat thyme
  10. cat thymes
  11. cat tongue

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cat that ate the canary (page history and authors); cat that ate the canary (Bengali Wiktionary) (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: en-au-cat that ate the canary.ogg.

Cite this entry: “cat that ate the canary.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cat_that_ate_the_canary. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.