different between catty vs scatty

English

Etymology 1

cat +? -y; in sense “hostility”, see catfight.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?kæti/, [?k?æ?i]
• Rhymes: -æti
• Homophones: caddie, caddy (in some dialects)

Adjective

catty (comparative cattier, superlative cattiest)

1. (informal, of a person or remark) With subtle hostility in an effort to hurt, annoy, or upset, particularly among women.
2. (informal) Resembling or characteristic of a cat.

   a catty smell

Synonyms

• (spiteful): bitchy (derogatory), cattish, malicious, nasty, snide, spiteful

Related terms

• catfight

Translations

See also

• (hostility, especially between women): handbags, handbags at dawn, the handbags come out, meow

Etymology 2

From Malay kati, from Sinitic languages, Mandarin: ? (j?n)

Alternative forms

• kati
• katti, katty (both obsolete)

Noun

catty (plural catties)

1. A (unit of) weight used in China, generally standardized as half a kilogram.
   • 2009, Huaiyin Li, Village China Under Socialism and Reform: A Micro-History, 1948-2008, Stanford University Press, ?ISBN, page 94:

     To limit team members' consumption, it issued food stamps to the villagers and allowed everyone to eat one catty of rice a day.

   • 1847, Robert Montgomery Martin, China; Political, Commercial, and Social, Volume 2, James Madden (publisher), page 124:

     Transparent yellow pieces are the best; the price is from eight to fourteen dollars per catty, according to size and quality.

Translations

See also

• (Hong Kong units): chek, tsun, fan, picul, tael, mace, candareen, tsin, leung, kan, tam

Etymology 3

Noun

catty (plural catties)

1. (slang) A catapult.
   • 2009, Sheldon Arensen, The Carjackers (page 43)

     “Give me your slingshot, and I'll let you have it back after school this afternoon,” she said firmly. […] I stuck the 'catty' into my back pocket and ran outside to meet the others.

   • 2017, David Cooper, Christiaan Barnard: The Surgeon Who Dared

     You could also keep a tennis ball and a frog, or a catapult and a frog, but not all three together. I know because I tried it. The frog got a bit squashed between the ball and the handle of the catty.

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -æti

Etymology 1

Adjective

scatty (comparative scattier, superlative scattiest)

1. (slang, Britain) Scatterbrained; flighty.
2. (Britain, Liverpudlian, slang) messy; filthy; disgusting

Translations

Etymology 2

scat +? -y; see scat (“brief shower of rain”).

Adjective

scatty

1. (dialect) showery; rainy