katydid
Americannoun
-
katydids
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of katydid
An Americanism dating back to 1745–55; imitative
Explanation
A katydid is a type of grasshopper with extra-long antennae. You can hear katydids on summer nights making a loud, three-note sound. Like grasshoppers and crickets, katydids make noise by rubbing body parts together — in their case, by moving a leg against a wing and producing a sound that resembles their name. Katydids have also been known as "wide-horned grasshoppers," for the antennae that are often longer than their bodies. These insects are nocturnal and use camouflage, disguising themselves as green leaves to stay safe from predators.
Vocabulary lists containing katydid
Starfish
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Summer of the Monkeys
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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.
See Examples For:
Wizen was photographing a lichen dragon katydid measuring just 15mm long, making it difficult to distinguish from the lichen around it.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
The discovery, reported this week in the journal Ecology, centers on arota festae, a leaf-mimicking katydid also known as a "bush cricket."
From Science Daily ● May 2, 2026
The Mormon cricket is not a true cricket but a shield-backed katydid.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 20, 2023
Sporting camouflage accessories, including lichen-like encrustations and moss‑like crinkled antennae, a male katydid poses on a twig that matches his ensemble perfectly.
From The Guardian ● May 27, 2019
There was not a peep to be heard but katydid noises outside in the deep, black night.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Zookeepers will need to coax every bird, reptile, fish and mammal - from the largest rodents in the world to the greenest katydids - to the weighing scale.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Pink katydids have been recorded in scientific literature since 1878, but they have usually been viewed as rare and disadvantageous mutations.
From Science Daily ● May 2, 2026
Mormon crickets, which are not actually crickets but shield-backed katydids, are ground-dwelling insects native to the Western United States.
From New York Times ● Jun. 18, 2023
“Even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream.”
From Scientific American ● Jun. 16, 2023
No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream.
From "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
