cootie
1 Americannoun
noun
plural
cooties-
a louse, especially one affecting humans, as the body louse, head louse, or pubic louse.
-
a child's term for an imaginary germ or disease that one can catch by touching a person who is disliked or socially avoided.
The girls at camp thought the boys had cooties.
noun
Etymology
Origin of cootie1
First recorded in 1775–85; variant of Scots cood, of uncertain origin
Origin of cootie1
First recorded in 1910–15; of disputed origin; perhaps from Malay kutu “louse” (akin to Chamorro hutu, Hawaiian 'uku, Maori kutu, Tagalog kuto ), with final syllable conformed to -ie; perhaps an elaboration of obsolete coot “louse,” after coot ( def. ) (compare as lousy as a coot “infested with lice”)
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.
They walked past me as if I had cooties, or stared with disdain from inside the restaurant like I was a chupacabra.
From Los Angeles Times
Higgins, who works in health care and risks covid-19 exposure on the job, sought out activities that give her dedicated time for herself and “not expose other people to all my cooties,” she says.
From Washington Post
“And because they don’t kill you if you have cooties.”
From Literature
And then they would run screaming that they needed to wash their hands because I had given them cooties.
From Washington Post
I couldn’t believe it when she sat next to me, propping her backpack between us so she wouldn’t catch any of my cooties.
From Literature
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.
