A catfish is someone who poses as another person on social media or a dating app, using someone else's photos, a made-up name and a made-up story. The word is informal and disapproving; literally, a catfish is a type of fish. There's also a verb, most often in the form get catfished: I got catfished means I was fooled by a fake profile.
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be a catfish; get catfished (by + person); catfish + person
- Her online boyfriend refused to video call for months, turns out he was a catfish.
- I think I'm being catfished, all his photos are from some model's Instagram.
- Do a reverse image search before you meet anyone, just to check they're not a catfish.
What changed
First versionI think I was catfishing by someone on a dating app.
RevisionI think I was catfished by someone on a dating app.
I was catfishing means you were the one pretending: you were posing as someone else. To say someone fooled you, English uses the passive, as in I was tricked, so the sentence needs was catfished by someone.
A catfish is the person; the fake profile itself is called a fake account or fake profile: The profile was fake, and the man behind it was a catfish. A catfish doesn't always want money; often they're after attention or romance. Someone who tricks people out of money is a scammer. In IELTS Speaking, someone with a fake profile sounds more neutral, and in an essay, people who use fake online identities.
Your turn
Mark said he was a 25-year-old pilot, but on the video call he turned out to be someone else entirely. He was a ___.
Show the answer
catfish — Mark claimed to be a 25-year-old pilot but turned out to be someone else on the video call, so he's a catfish. A troll provokes people and ruins discussions, but doesn't pretend to be someone else to get to know people.
Write a warning message to a friend about a suspicious profile on a dating app. Use catfish and say what exactly made you suspicious.
Be careful with that guy from the app, he might be a catfish, his photos look like stock images.
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