critter
Americannoun
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critters
plural
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a domesticated animal.
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any creature.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of critter
Variant of creature
Explanation
A critter is an animal. If you hear scratching noises in your ceiling at night, you can be sure that some kind of critter is living in your attic. Critter is an informal word for any living creature, from a wolf to a spider. You might like going to watch various critters at the zoo, or live on a small farm where you can keep critters of your own, like goats and chickens. Critter first appeared in the early 19th century, a shortened slang or joking form of the word creature.
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:
Officer Britney Myers spotted the scruffy critter and climbed down a manhole after her, as seen in video from the agency.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Video showed the critter nervously perched on a shelf, seamlessly blending in with the toy kangaroos and bears.
From Barron's ● Mar. 19, 2026
As Popcorn gained popularity online, Chris and Lily wrote a book together about the impact that the little critter had on their family, which was then published in May 2024.
From BBC ● May 24, 2025
As a set, the worm's eyes weigh about twenty times as much as the rest of the animal's head and seem grotesquely out of place on this tiny and transparent marine critter.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 8, 2024
As for Leon, he wasn’t much of an outdoorsman, and was leery of any critter that wasn’t wearing a collar and a rabies tag.
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
There aren’t many of those critters in the Golden State and, when they’re found, officials seek to eradicate them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
When bird feeders open for business, as every amateur naturalist quickly learns, other critters often show up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
On Tuesday night, he said he was sitting down, watching television when another detainee told him that the drinking water was contaminated with critters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
People first embraced Grogu as a novelty, the latest in a line of cute, rascally critters going back to the Ewoks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
‘You mean those cute fuzzy critters -’ ‘No.' Nico sounded annoyed, like he got that question a lot. ‘
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
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.
