caitiff
Americannoun
adjective
noun
adjective
Etymology
Origin of caitiff
1250–1300; Middle English caitif < Anglo-French < Latin captīvus captive
Vocabulary lists containing caitiff
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.
If a celebrated classroom caitiff like Peck's Bad Boy or Huckleberry Finn were to cut his swath through a U. S. school today, he would probably get off with a restrained scolding.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Yet," came the somewhat dubious observation, "even Arthur's table had its caitiff knights, if you remember."
From The Tempering by Buck, Charles Neville
False caitiff, wouldst thou indeed betray my innocent trust?
From What a Man Wills by Vaizey, George de Horne, Mrs.
Alas, caitiff that I am, why did I leave the place whereto I was appointed and wherein I had come to my old age?
From Tales from the Old French by Various
I heard the sword-play from the glen yonder, and soon knew the voice of that black caitiff.
From Cedric, the Forester by Marshall, Bernard Gay
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.
