feline
Americanadjective
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belonging or pertaining to the cat family, Felidae.
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catlike; characteristic of animals of the cat family.
a feline tread.
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sly, stealthy, or treacherous.
noun
adjective
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of, relating to, or belonging to the Felidae , a family of predatory mammals, including cats, lions, leopards, and cheetahs, typically having a round head and retractile claws: order Carnivora (carnivores)
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resembling or suggestive of a cat, esp in stealth or grace
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of feline
1675–85; < Latin fēl ( ēs ) ( see Felis) + -ine 1; compare Late Latin fēlīneus of a wild cat
Explanation
You can describe your kitten as your young feline friend, since feline describes anything having to do with cats. The adjective feline is useful when you're talking about cats — just as canine describes dogs, and ursine describes bears. You might talk about the special feline food and toys you buy for your pet, or describe his feline beauty. You can even describe a person as feline, if something about him or her is catlike. The Latin root felinus means "of or belonging to a cat," from feles, "cat."
Vocabulary lists containing feline
A Lexical Zoo of Animal Adjectives
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Cat Vocabulary: A Feline Lexicon
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Appeared in the April 22, 2026, print edition as 'Following a Feline Dynasty in India'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026
An activist from Feline Guardians got in touch with one of those Little Winnie accounts and lured the man behind it into an online relationship.
From BBC • Aug. 3, 2025
He said each of the forms listed the political party as the American Feline Party.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 6, 2024
When he threw up repeatedly, stopped eating altogether, and was diagnosed with Feline Inflammatory Bowel Disease, we were four months into the COVID-19 shutdown.
From Salon • Mar. 5, 2024
None of the Feline tribe will eat vegetables, unless domesticated, even then but rarely; and in their wild state, unless pressed by hunger, they will only eat what they themselves have killed.
From Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of Animals by Weir, Harrison
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
