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
"Thou art an insolent caitiff," he said, "thus to speak of one of whom thou knowest nothing."
From William Shakespeare as he lived. An Historical Tale by Henry Curling
Think not of us—think not of revenging yourself upon this caitiff.
From Guy Fawkes or The Gunpowder Treason by William Harrison Ainsworth
In the tumult of his passion and fear Wade cursed the caitiff, his own legs in the swirl of the bights, his cant-dog nipping the rope to the post and checking it short.
From King Spruce, A Novel by Holman Day
For Newcastle had betrayed him to the last; the magpie cunning of that old caitiff paralysed every arm that might have defended him.
From Lord Chatham His Early Life and Connections by Archibald Phillip Primrose Rosebery
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
