cougar

American  

[koo-ger] / ˈku gər /

noun

• cougars,
  plural
• cougar
  plural

1. Also called mountain lion, panther, puma.  a large, tawny cat, Felis concolor, of North and South America: now greatly reduced in number and endangered in some areas.

2. Informal. an older woman who seeks sexual relationships with much younger men.

   He's in his twenties, but he prefers cougars in their forties and fifties to young women his own age.

---

cougar British  

/ ˈkuːɡə /

noun

1. another name for puma

2. slang a woman in her 30s or 40s who actively pursues casual sexual relationships with young men

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cougar
  plural
• cougars
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cougar

First recorded in 1765–75; from French couguar, from New Latin cuguacu ara, cuguacuarana, apparently a misrepresentation of either Guarani guaçu ara or Portuguese çuçuarana, suçuarana (from Tupi susuarana )

Explanation

A cougar is a type of large cat — male cougars can reach eight feet long. You may have seen a cougar in a nature program about the animals of North and South America. A cougar is a feline, but these cats are not tame house pets — they are dangerous wild animals. Found all the way from Canada to South America, cougars are also called pumas, mountain lions, panthers, and catamounts. The word cougar is also a slang term for an older woman who dates much younger men. Even when it is meant to be a compliment, like any stereotype, cougar has the potential to offend — best to avoid.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cougar cougars

A coyote is bathed in red light; a cougar stalks near a grand piano; a man stands in a tropical jungle surrounded by mist; a pay phone off the hook dangles by its cord.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

And a cougar attacks in a very different way than a bear does.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026

The research comes as wolf and cougar territories increasingly overlap across the western United States.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 3, 2026

To better understand how evolution shaped these sounds, the researchers compared domestic cat meows with those of five wild cat species: African wildcat, European wildcat, jungle cat, cheetah, and cougar.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 11, 2026

Like asking a cougar to dance with a bear.

From "Worth" by A. LaFaye

Suraci and colleagues instead focused on the Olympic Peninsula, where mountain lions -- variously known as cougars, pumas or panthers -- have long been established.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

"Research like this...helps people want to live alongside cougars," he said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

To reduce these risky run ins, cougars have adjusted by targeting smaller animals, which helps them avoid crossing paths with wolf packs.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 3, 2026

For much of the 20th century, federal and state policies nearly wiped out both wolves and cougars in the United States.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 3, 2026

She knows that there are also cougars in those woods.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

Related Words

• mountain lion
• panther