Catchy

How to spell catchy

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce catchy

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does catchy mean?

1. adjectiveInstantly appealing and easy to remember, especially a tune, phrase, or slogan.

Catchy in a sentence

• The advert used a catchy jingle that everyone hummed for weeks.

• Marketing wanted a short, catchy slogan for the new product.

Where does catchy come from?

Language of origin: French

This is a fairly modern English coinage that joins the verb 'catch' to the adjective-forming ending '-y'. The verb 'catch' arrived in Middle English from the Old North French 'cachier', meaning 'to chase or capture', which itself traces back to the Latin 'captare', meaning 'to try to seize'. The little suffix '-y' is a native English ending that turns a noun or verb into an adjective describing a quality, so 'catchy' literally suggests something that catches at you. The figurative sense, used of a tune or slogan that lodges in the memory and is hard to shake, became common in the nineteenth century. The spelling trap is simply remembering the '-tch-' cluster and the single 'y' ending rather than doubling anything.

How the word is built

• catch (to seize, grab hold)
• -y (adjective suffix)