catchy

IPA/ˈkætʃi/
KK[kˈætʃˌi]IPA/ˈkætʃi/

catchy — adjective

  • catchypositive
  • catchiercomparative
  • catchiestsuperlative

1. A catchy tune, song, name, or phrase is appealing and easy to keep in your memor

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

A catchy tune, song, name, or phrase is appealing and easy to keep in your memory, so it stays in your thoughts.

Example

The chorus of that pop song is so catchy that I have been humming it all day.

so catchy that-clause (result pattern)

The advertising agency created a catchy slogan that everyone in the city could repeat.

attributive: catchy slogan

Common collocations
  • catchy tune
  • catchy song
  • catchy melody
  • catchy chorus
  • catchy slogan
  • catchy jingle
  • catchy name
  • catchy phrase
  • catchy title
  • so catchy that
  • really catchy
  • quite catchy
  • incredibly catchy
Synonyms
  • memorable

    broader — can describe any experience or event, not just sound-related things

  • infectious

    stronger emotional pull; suggests the feeling spreads quickly to others

  • addictive

    suggests you cannot stop listening or repeating it

  • appealing

    more general; does not carry the 'easy to remember' part of the meaning

Antonyms
  • forgettable

    the direct opposite — something not worth remembering

  • dull

    lacking the quality that makes a tune or song interesting

Grammar Patterns

catchy + noun (attr.)

be + catchy (pred.)

so catchy that-clause

Usage Note

Frequently used with nouns related to sound and memory: tune, song, melody, chorus, slogan, jingle, name, phrase. Unlike 'memorable', 'catchy' suggests something repeated mentally without effort, almost as if by accident.

Common Mistakes

The movie had a catchy plot.
The movie had an engaging plot.
Catchy is almost never used for stories or events; it describes tunes, songs, slogans, and names that are easy to remember.
She has a catchy personality.
She has a charming personality.
Catchy does not describe people's character; use words like charming, likeable, or outgoing instead.

2. A catchy question, problem, or part of a document is more complicated than it fi

2.adjectiveC1
Definition

A catchy question, problem, or part of a document is more complicated than it first appears, often because it is designed to test how carefully you read or think.

Example

The exam included several catchy questions that required careful reading.

attributive: catchy questions

Asher warned everyone that the contract had a catchy clause hidden in the fine print.

Common collocations
  • catchy question
  • catchy clause
  • catchy problem
  • catchy puzzle
  • catchy part
  • catchy section
Synonyms
  • tricky

    more common in everyday speech; carries the same hidden-difficulty idea

  • deceptive

    stronger suggestion of deliberate misleading; can sound more formal

  • troublesome

    broader — not limited to hidden traps; any kind of difficulty

Antonyms
  • straightforward

    clear and easy to understand, with no hidden difficulty

  • simple

    not complicated; easy to do or understand

Grammar Patterns

catchy + noun (attr.)

be + catchy (pred.)

Usage Note

This sense is far less common than sense 1 ('MEMORABLE TUNE'). It appears mainly in informal discussion of exams, puzzles, contracts, and other documents where a hidden difficulty is deliberately placed. In everyday speech, 'tricky' is more natural than 'catchy' for this meaning.

Common Mistakes

The maths homework was catchy.
The maths homework was tricky.
Catchy (sense 2) implies deliberate deception or a hidden trap, not just general difficulty.
She told a catchy story.
She told an engaging story.
Catchy does not describe narratives; use engaging, gripping, or fascinating instead.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe something positive you want to engage with, but each captures a different feeling. 'Memorable' is the broadest — a memorable speech, meal, or trip stays in your mind because it was special in some way. 'Catchy' is narrower: it focuses on sound-related things (tunes, slogans, names) that are easy to remember and tend to repeat in your head without effort. 'Infectious' adds the idea that the feeling spreads: an infectious laugh makes other people laugh too, and an infectious tune makes others hum along. 'Addictive' is the strongest — it suggests you cannot stop, as in 'an addictive TV series' or 'an addictive mobile game'. 'Appealing' is the most general; it simply means attractive or pleasant, with no implication that you will remember it later. For a song you keep singing under your breath, 'catchy' is the exact word; for a film you still think about years later, use 'memorable'; for a show you binge-watch all weekend, use 'addictive'.

memorable ↗infectious ↗addictive ↗appealing ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • catchy as hell
  • so catchy that

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

Formed in English by combining the verb 'catch' (from Latin 'captiare', meaning 'to chase or seize') with the suffix '-y', which turns verbs into adjectives meaning 'having the quality of'. The earliest recorded use of 'catchy' in the 1700s meant 'fitful' or 'irregular', like a catchy (intermittent) breeze. By the 1830s the modern sense of 'pleasing and easy to remember' emerged, first applied to tunes — a melody that 'catches' the listener's attention. The 'tricky' sense appeared in the late 1800s, describing something that catches you off guard.

First known use

1804

1804, in the meaning defined at sense 1a