pussy
Pluralpussies
Pluralpussies
- 1A vulgar word for the female genitals: the vulva or the vagina.
After the birth, she joked to her friends that her pussy would never be the same.
She laughed and told her best friend that the long bike ride had left her pussy numb.
Similarcoochie, beaver, box, fanny, cunt
Note
This is a word for frank company: among people at ease with each other it is ordinary colloquial talk, but in public, at work or in polite company it shocks. A doctor, a teacher or a serious conversation needs the neutral words vulva and vagina, which name the body without the charge.
- 2A vulgar, insulting word for a coward or weakling, or for anyone seen as timid, ineffectual or pathetic.
Stop acting like such a pussy and tell your boss what you think.
He worried his teammates would think he was a pussy if he sat out with a sore knee.
Similarcoward, chicken, sissy, chickenshit, candy-ass
Note
The insult goes after someone's nerve, and it is usually thrown straight at the person: you're such a pussy; get to work, you pussy. In Sinclair Lewis's novel Arrowsmith (1925), some doctors are "the sweetest old pussies" with their patients yet yell at the nurses. There the word means soft and sweet-natured, not cowardly. Today it offends as a crude word and as a put-down at once.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Arrowsmith is a novel by Sinclair Lewis, first published in 1925. en.wikipedia.org
- The quoted phrase describes doctors' sweet manner toward patients, contrasted with their shouting at nurses; the context supports sweetness rather than cowardice. gutenberg.net.au
- 3An informal, affectionate word for a cat.
"Come on, pussy, your dinner's ready," she called from the back door.
And although, as someone recently said to me, they are not "designer" (she had expected my pussies to be expensive, with a pedigree), to me my cats are the most beautiful in the world.
2007, Liz Jones, “Are cats the new dogs?”UsageThe vulgar meanings now shadow it, so kitty or puss is often safer.
Similarcat, kitty, puss, pussy-cat, housecat
Note
The pet word is built from puss, "cat", plus the fond diminutive ending -y. Liz Jones could still write of "my pussies" in The Independent in 2007, but the vulgar meaning now shadows it, so kitty or puss is often the safer word.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- The cat term derives from puss, meaning cat, plus the diminutive suffix -y. en.wiktionary.org
- Liz Jones used “my pussies” about her cats in The Independent in 2007. en.wiktionary.org
- 4Vulgar slang for sex with a woman, usually in the phrase get some pussy.
He only joined the band because he thought it would help him score some pussy.
The locker-room talk about who was getting pussy bored her within minutes.
Similarsex, ass, action, intercourse
Note
It sits after verbs of getting, get some or score some, and as a mass noun it takes neither an article nor a plural. Daniel Clowes's Art School Confidential (1991) jokes that art teachers are there for a steady paycheck and in the hope of scoring some pussy. Even among friends it is the bluntest kind of slang.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Daniel Clowes wrote Art School Confidential, which first appeared in 1991. en.wikipedia.org
- The comic jokes that teachers want a steady paycheck and hope to score some pussy. en.wiktionary.org
- 5A vulgar, derogatory word for a woman, or for women collectively, regarded only as sexual partners.
The lawsuit quoted the manager telling his team that the new hires were "fresh pussy."
To him every woman at the party was just another piece of pussy.
Note
A deeply offensive term that reduces women to a body part and to sex, at home in crude bragging and in the kind of talk quoted in harassment cases. Unlike the "sex" meaning, it points at women themselves, singly or as a mass noun (fresh pussy, a piece of pussy). It is a word to recognize, not to use.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- The term appears in language quoted in harassment litigation. goodgeorgialawyer.com
Less common meanings
- 6An affectionate name for a woman or girl, seen as having a cat's sweetness or other cat-like qualities.
‘I hope you two have been mewed in with that old pussy long enough. While you’ve been tittle-tattling I’ve been doing, — listen to what this bobby’s got to say.’
1897, Richard Marsh, The BeetleNote
Older English used it fondly, and it is now rare. Lloyd George opened a letter to his mistress Frances Stevenson with "My darling Pussy," while in Richard Marsh's The Beetle (1897) a brash speaker turns it mocking with "that old pussy." Its home is older writing, and a modern speaker looking for a pet name has safer ones.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- Older English used pussy affectionately for a woman or girl. en.wiktionary.org
- Frances Stevenson was Lloyd George's mistress. archives.library.wales
- Lloyd George opened a letter to Frances Stevenson with My darling Pussy. en.wikipedia.org
- Richard Marsh wrote The Beetle, first published in 1897. valancourtbooks.com
- A brash fictional speaker uses that old pussy mockingly in The Beetle; the speaker is Sydney Atherton, referring to Miss Coleman. gutenberg.org
- 7A vulgar word for a man's anus, usually that of the passive partner in gay sex.
The bottoms in the group chat compared notes on keeping their pussies clean and healthy.
On the hookup app, the bottom bragged to his date about his pussy.
Similarass, asshole, butthole, arsehole, anus
Note
Frank sexual talk between gay men carries the word for the female genitals over to a man's body. It is vulgar in both sexual senses, and it belongs only in explicit conversation among people who welcome it.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- The male-anus sense is vulgar, as is the female-genital sense; the cat sense is not. en.wiktionary.org
- 8Containing pus, or discharging it.
The nurse cleaned the pussy wound and applied a fresh dressing.
The dog's ear was red, smelly and pussy, so the vet prescribed drops.
Similarpurulent
Note
The adjective comes straight from pus with the ending -y, and it has no tie to the cat word that shares its spelling. A wound or an ear can be pussy; where a clinical register is wanted, purulent and suppurant say the same thing, and they avoid any misreading as the vulgar noun.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- The adjective meaning containing or discharging pus derives from pus plus -y. en.wiktionary.org
- The medical adjective has a separate origin from the identically spelled cat word. en.wiktionary.org
- 9An imaginary part of the body credited with a person's full effort, usually in the phrase put one's whole pussy into something.
Not to brag, but I put my whole pussy into this lasagna.
The drag queen put her whole pussy into the lip sync and won the night.
Note
The joke swaps a vulgar word in for heart, as in put your heart into it, and boasts of total effort. It is humorous internet slang, but the word at its center stays vulgar, so it suits only company that will hear it as a joke.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- The expression humorously substitutes pussy for heart in an established expression. en.wiktionary.org
- The expression denotes maximum effort. en.wiktionary.org
- 10Short of breath, especially from being fat, or short and stout; a dated spelling of pursy.
Note
This spelling reflects a dialect form of pursy in which the r sound merged with the following s. It means what pursy means, short of breath from being fat, or fat and short, and as dated slang it is met mostly in older writing.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- The form reflects dialectal assimilation of r before the following s; describing it as ordinary non-rhotic r-dropping conflates distinct sound changes. en.wiktionary.org
- Pussy is an alternative form of pursy. en.wiktionary.org
- Pursy can mean short of breath because of fatness. en.wiktionary.org
- Pursy can mean fat and short. en.wiktionary.org
- 11The game of tipcat.
Similarcat
Note
Tipcat has gone by many names, cat, cat and dog, one-a-cat and piggy among them, and pussy is the fond form of the plainest. The name is dated now, and tipcat is the clearer choice for a present-day reader.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- Tipcat has also been called cat, cat and dog, one-a-cat, piggy, and pussy. en.wikipedia.org
- Pussy is an affectionate equivalent of cat. en.wiktionary.org
- 12Anything soft and furry, such as the fluffy flower spike, or catkin, of the pussy willow.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
From puss (“cat”) + -y, a diminutive suffix.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Pussy derives from puss meaning “cat” plus the diminutive suffix -y. en.wiktionary.org
Formed from pus + the suffix -y.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Pussy, the adjective meaning containing or exuding pus, is formed from pus plus -y. en.wiktionary.org
From a dialectal pronunciation of pursy, in which the r is assimilated to the following s.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Pussy derives from a dialectal pronunciation of pursy. en.wiktionary.org
- The r in pursy is assimilated to the following s. en.wiktionary.org