catchy

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Vulgar Latin captus

Proto-Indo-European *-yetider.

Vulgar Latin -io

Vulgar Latin *captiāre

Old French chacierbor.

Anglo-Norman cachierbor.

Middle English cacchen

English catch

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Germanic *-gaz

Proto-West Germanic *-g

Old English -iġ

Middle English -y

English -y

English catchy

From catch + -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkæt͡ʃi/, /ˈkɛt͡ʃi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ætʃi

Adjective

catchy (comparative catchier, superlative catchiest)

1. (of a tune or phrase) Instantly appealing and memorable.

   Eric wrote a catchy tune to play on his acoustic guitar while Alyssa plays the drums.

   This hook is so catchy that I can't stop listening to it!

   • 2010 August 30, Charlie Brooker, “Buzzwords for blowhards”, in The Guardian‎^[1], archived from the original on 30 May 2023:

     Because in today's 2,000mph technological freefall, he who coins the catchiest buzzword generally wins the debate by default.

   • 2012 June 3, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992)”, in AV Club‎^[2], archived from the original on 28 December 2012:

     The best of friends become the worst of enemies when Barney makes a hilarious attack ad where he viciously pummels a cardboard cut-out of Homer before special guest star Linda Ronstadt joins the fun to both continue the attack on the helpless Homer stand-in and croon a slanderously accurate, insanely catchy jingle about how “Mr. Plow is a loser/And I think he is a boozer.”

2. (dated, chiefly figurative) Tending to catch or ensnare; entangling.

   Synonym: tricky

   a catchy question

3. (dated) Consisting of, or occurring in, disconnected parts or snatches; changeable.

   a catchy wind

   • Encyc. of Sport

     It [the fox's scent] is […] flighty or catchy, if variable.

4. Contagious; catching.
   • 1941, Florence LaGanke Harris, Hazel Hanna Huston, The New Home Economics Omnibus:

     The catchy cold which has been transmitted to you directly or indirectly might have been avoided had you been in better physical condition.

Derived terms

• catchily
• catchiness
• uncatchy

Translations

instantly appealing and memorable

• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} лесно запомнящ се (lesno zapomnjašt se)
• Catalan: enganxós
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 抓耳 (zhuāěr)

• Czech: chytlavý
• Danish: fængende, iøjnefaldende (about sth. visual), iørefaldende (of a tune)
• Dutch: aanstekelijk (nl), pakkend (nl)
• Finnish: tarttuva (fi), iskevä (fi)
• French: entraînant (fr)
• German: einprägsam (de), griffig (de), packend (de), eingängig (de)
• Greek: πιασάρικος (el) (piasárikos)
• Hungarian: fülbemászó (hu) (of a tune)
• Italian: accattivante (it), orecchiabile (it)
• Japanese: キャッチーな (ja) (kyatchi na), 覚えやすい (oboe-yasui), 耳に残る (mimi ni nokoru)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: fengende

  Nynorsk: fengjande

• Polish: chwytliwy
• Portuguese: memorável (pt), contagiante (pt), cativante (pt)
• Russian: привя́зчивый (ru) (privjázčivyj), запомина́ющийся (ru) (zapominájuščijsja)
• Spanish: pegadizo (es), pegajoso (es)
• Swedish: medryckande (sv), trallvänlig (sv), svängig