See fat cat on Wiktionary
Download JSON data for fat cat meaning in All languages combined (8.7kB)
{
"etymology_text": "The phrase was first used in the 1920s in the United States to describe rich political donors.\nBy the middle of the 20th century, the term was being applied more widely to any wealthy individual.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "fat cats",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "fat cat (plural fat cats)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "33 37 30",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
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{
"_dis": "39 44 18",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
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{
"_dis": "50 49 1",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "People",
"orig": "en:People",
"parents": [
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A rich person who contributes to a political campaign."
],
"id": "en-fat_cat-en-noun-GWSA8UU5",
"links": [
[
"rich",
"rich"
]
],
"qualifier": "originally",
"raw_glosses": [
"(slang, originally) A rich person who contributes to a political campaign."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "angel"
},
{
"word": "big money man"
}
],
"tags": [
"slang"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "84 16 0",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "rich person who contributes to a political campaign",
"word": "肥貓"
},
{
"_dis1": "84 16 0",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "féi māo",
"sense": "rich person who contributes to a political campaign",
"word": "肥猫"
},
{
"_dis1": "84 16 0",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "rich person who contributes to a political campaign",
"word": "pohatta"
},
{
"_dis1": "84 16 0",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "rich person who contributes to a political campaign",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "pesce grosso"
},
{
"_dis1": "84 16 0",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "rich person who contributes to a political campaign",
"word": "cachorro grande"
},
{
"_dis1": "84 16 0",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "rich person who contributes to a political campaign",
"word": "peixe grande"
},
{
"_dis1": "84 16 0",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "rich person who contributes to a political campaign",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "pez gordo"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "33 37 30",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
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"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
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{
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"Entry maintenance"
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"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "39 44 18",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"parents": [
"Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"Entry maintenance"
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"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "25 50 25",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Corruption",
"orig": "en:Corruption",
"parents": [
"Crime",
"Politics",
"Criminal law",
"Society",
"Law",
"All topics",
"Justice",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "50 49 1",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "People",
"orig": "en:People",
"parents": [
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1997, John Brancato and Michael Ferris, The Game (motion picture), Daniel Schorr (actor)",
"text": "A staggering 57% of American workers believe there is a very real chance they will be unemployed in the next 5 to 7 years. But what does that matter to a bloated millionaire fat-cat like you?",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2020 September 23, Nigel Harris, “Comment: We MUST seize the moment”, in Rail, page 3",
"text": "For entirely self-serving reasons, ministers and civil servants never dispelled the public belief that uncaring 'fat cat' privateers or foreign state railways were in control, ramping up fares and creaming off profits which either enriched shareholders or subsidised European rail fares. DfT left train operators to 'take the heat' - which they dutifully did, fearful of speaking up and 'biting the hand that feeds'.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2020 October 23, Walter Kirn, “The Cautionary Tale of Adam Neumann and WeWork”, in New York Times",
"text": "In America, where we moralize our money and monetize our morals, fat cats who go bust tend to be viewed as cautionary figures, singular exemplars of malfeasance, not routine casualties of the fickle system that exalted them in the first place.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Any affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others."
],
"id": "en-fat_cat-en-noun-VvdBIj5S",
"links": [
[
"derogatory",
"derogatory"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(slang, derogatory) Any affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others."
],
"tags": [
"derogatory",
"slang"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "23 76 1",
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "zazobanec"
},
{
"_dis1": "23 76 1",
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "papaláš"
},
{
"_dis1": "23 76 1",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others",
"word": "pohatta"
},
{
"_dis1": "23 76 1",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others",
"word": "kiho"
},
{
"_dis1": "23 76 1",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others",
"word": "porho"
},
{
"_dis1": "23 76 1",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Bonze"
},
{
"_dis1": "23 76 1",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "sfruttatore"
},
{
"_dis1": "23 76 1",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "profittatore"
},
{
"_dis1": "23 76 1",
"code": "kmr",
"lang": "Northern Kurdish",
"sense": "affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others",
"word": "kedxwer"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "33 37 30",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "39 41 20",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
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"Entry maintenance"
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{
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{
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}
],
"glosses": [
"Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see fat, cat."
],
"id": "en-fat_cat-en-noun-BIFdWLBZ",
"links": [
[
"fat",
"fat#English"
],
[
"cat",
"cat#English"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 100",
"word": "fatcat"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 100",
"word": "fat-cat"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-fat cat.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/12/En-au-fat_cat.ogg/En-au-fat_cat.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/En-au-fat_cat.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Frank Kent",
"fat cat"
],
"word": "fat cat"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English rhyming phrases",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"en:Corruption",
"en:People"
],
"etymology_text": "The phrase was first used in the 1920s in the United States to describe rich political donors.\nBy the middle of the 20th century, the term was being applied more widely to any wealthy individual.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "fat cats",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "fat cat (plural fat cats)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English slang"
],
"glosses": [
"A rich person who contributes to a political campaign."
],
"links": [
[
"rich",
"rich"
]
],
"qualifier": "originally",
"raw_glosses": [
"(slang, originally) A rich person who contributes to a political campaign."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "angel"
},
{
"word": "big money man"
}
],
"tags": [
"slang"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English derogatory terms",
"English slang",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1997, John Brancato and Michael Ferris, The Game (motion picture), Daniel Schorr (actor)",
"text": "A staggering 57% of American workers believe there is a very real chance they will be unemployed in the next 5 to 7 years. But what does that matter to a bloated millionaire fat-cat like you?",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2020 September 23, Nigel Harris, “Comment: We MUST seize the moment”, in Rail, page 3",
"text": "For entirely self-serving reasons, ministers and civil servants never dispelled the public belief that uncaring 'fat cat' privateers or foreign state railways were in control, ramping up fares and creaming off profits which either enriched shareholders or subsidised European rail fares. DfT left train operators to 'take the heat' - which they dutifully did, fearful of speaking up and 'biting the hand that feeds'.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2020 October 23, Walter Kirn, “The Cautionary Tale of Adam Neumann and WeWork”, in New York Times",
"text": "In America, where we moralize our money and monetize our morals, fat cats who go bust tend to be viewed as cautionary figures, singular exemplars of malfeasance, not routine casualties of the fickle system that exalted them in the first place.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Any affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others."
],
"links": [
[
"derogatory",
"derogatory"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(slang, derogatory) Any affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others."
],
"tags": [
"derogatory",
"slang"
]
},
{
"glosses": [
"Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see fat, cat."
],
"links": [
[
"fat",
"fat#English"
],
[
"cat",
"cat#English"
]
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-fat cat.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/12/En-au-fat_cat.ogg/En-au-fat_cat.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/En-au-fat_cat.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "fatcat"
},
{
"word": "fat-cat"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "rich person who contributes to a political campaign",
"word": "肥貓"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "féi māo",
"sense": "rich person who contributes to a political campaign",
"word": "肥猫"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "rich person who contributes to a political campaign",
"word": "pohatta"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "rich person who contributes to a political campaign",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "pesce grosso"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "rich person who contributes to a political campaign",
"word": "cachorro grande"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "rich person who contributes to a political campaign",
"word": "peixe grande"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "rich person who contributes to a political campaign",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "pez gordo"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "zazobanec"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "papaláš"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others",
"word": "pohatta"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others",
"word": "kiho"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others",
"word": "porho"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Bonze"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "sfruttatore"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "profittatore"
},
{
"code": "kmr",
"lang": "Northern Kurdish",
"sense": "affluent person who is perceived to have profited from the labour of others",
"word": "kedxwer"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Frank Kent",
"fat cat"
],
"word": "fat cat"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-20 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (1d5a7d1 and 304864d). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.