What it means
Someone pretending to be a completely different person online, usually with stolen photos and a sob story to match. Term blew up after that 2010 documentary and MTV show of the same name, and now it covers everyone from romance scammers to people using ten-year-old Tinder pics. The internet's favourite villain and sadly still extremely common in 2026.
Usage examples
"Spent three months texting a girl from Dallas who turned out to be some dude in Ohio, I got catfished so hard I deleted the app"
"Turned out the match was a catfish using someone else's holiday photos."
"Always video call early so you don't get catfished before the first date."
Where it comes from
The sense took off after the 2010 documentary Catfish and the MTV show it spawned, both about people romanced online by someone who was not who they claimed. Now a catfish is anyone hiding behind stolen photos and an invented life.
Editors of this term
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