catfish
A catfish is someone who pretends to be a different person online, usually to start a romantic relationship. They use fake photos, a fake name and a made-up life story. Being tricked this way is called being catfished.
What does catfish mean?
A catfish builds a false identity on a dating app or social media and uses it to connect with someone. The reasons vary: loneliness, insecurity, revenge, boredom, or scams that eventually ask for money. Whatever the motive, the relationship is built on someone who doesn’t exist.
It works as a noun (“he was a catfish”) and a verb (“she got catfished,” “stop catfishing people”). People also use it more loosely for profile photos that are heavily filtered or years out of date.
How to use it
- “They talked for six months and he never once video called. Total catfish.”
- “I think I’m being catfished. Her photos show up on a model’s Instagram.”
- “His dating profile pics are from 2015. That’s light catfishing.”
- “Don’t send money to someone you’ve never met. Classic catfish move.”
Signs you might be talking to a catfish
- They always have an excuse to avoid video calls or meeting.
- Their photos look professional, or a reverse image search finds them under another name.
- Their story has gaps or keeps changing.
- Things get intense fast, and sooner or later there is a money problem.
Where it comes from
The term comes from Catfish, a 2010 documentary by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost about Nev Schulman discovering that the woman he had fallen for online wasn’t real. The title refers to a story told in the film about fishermen putting catfish in tanks of cod to keep them active. MTV turned the idea into a TV series in November 2012, and the word became everyday slang.
Related terms
- ghosting: suddenly cutting off all contact
- love bombing: overwhelming someone with affection to control them
- red flag: a warning sign
- situationship: a relationship with no clear label
- finsta: a secondary, private Instagram account
See more terms like this in our dating slang dictionary.
Example sentence
They talked for six months and he never once video called. Total catfish.
Similar words
fake profile, impostor
Notes
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