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Glite Dictionary
cat fancier

cat fancier

7.5
A person who breeds and cares for cats as a hobby
  • noun
  • /kæt ˈfænʃər/
translation icon : aficionado a los gatos
  • He became a cat fancier after adopting two rescue cats and learning about their care.

Examples

  • She is a cat fancier, always on the lookout for a new lap-cat.

    Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

  • As a devoted cat fancier, she attends every local cat show in hopes of finding the perfect breed.

  • Being a cat fancier, she spends her weekends volunteering at the animal shelter to help stray cats.

How Cat-Loving

cat lady
  • Offensive
8 7.3
cat fancier
7.5

Surface Forms

cat fancier singular
cat fanciers plural

Morphology

cat + fancier

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'cat' (the animal) with 'fancier' (a person enthusiastic about or breeding/keeping something), yielding 'a person enthusiastic about cats.' This noun-noun composition follows a common, predictable pattern in English (and parallels exist in many languages), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily grasp the meaning.

Etymology

Cat fancier comes from the old use of fancy, which meant 'to like' or enjoy something. A fancier was a person who kept or bred animals for pleasure, so a cat fancier is literally someone who loves, cares for, and breeds cats.