Word.ws English Dictionary

catfishing

catfishing is the present participle and gerund of catfish.

Meaning of catfish

Verb (1)

catfish (third-person singular simple present catfishes, present participle catfishing, simple past and past participle catfished)

  1. (intransitive) To fish for catfish.
    • I only use this rod for catfishing.

Verb (2)

catfish (third-person singular simple present catfishes, present participle catfishing, simple past and past participle catfished)

  1. (Internet, slang, transitive) To create and operate a fake online profile to deceive (someone).
    • Getting catfished is when someone falls for a person online who is not necessarily real. It can involve pictures, phone calls, social media profiles, text messages, e-mails and even phony friends or family members.2013 January 17, Mary Pilon, “In Te’o Story, Deception Ripped From the Screen”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 20 Dec 2020

See all 6 meanings of catfish

Noun

catfishing (usually uncountable, plural catfishings)

  1. (Internet, usually) The practice of creating a fake profile on a social media platform in order to deceive people.
    • For the most part, catfishing is not against the law, said Bradley Shear, a Washington-based lawyer who has examined legal issues related to social media.2013 January 17, Mary Pilon, “In Te’o Story, Deception Ripped From the Screen”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 20 Dec 2020

Forms of catfishing

pluralcatfishings

Origin of catfishing

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Words formed from catfishing

Questions about catfishing

What does catfishing mean?
Catfishing means the practice of creating a fake profile on a social media platform in order to deceive people.
What is catfishing the present participle and gerund of?
Catfishing is the present participle and gerund of catfish.
What part of speech is catfishing?
Catfishing is a noun.
What is the plural of catfishing?
The plural of catfishing is catfishings.

Words near catfishing in the dictionary

  1. catfisher
  2. catfisherman
  3. catfishermen
  4. catfishers
  5. catfishes
  6. catfishing
  7. catfishings
  8. catfishlike
  9. catfit
  10. catfits
  11. catflap

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: catfishing (page history and authors); catfish (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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Cite this entry: “catfishing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/catfishing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.