Meaning & use
catfishing
Last updated
The practice of creating a fake online identity to deceive someone, typically to pursue a romantic relationship or trick them.
See it in a sentence
She realized she was a victim of catfishing when the man in the photos turned out not to exist.
The documentary followed several people who had fallen for catfishing scams.
A note on using this word
The term comes from the 2010 documentary 'Catfish,' which popularized the word for using a fake identity to deceive people online.
Words with a similar meaning
online deception
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