feline
3
1.9
- adjective
- /ˈfiːlaɪn/
:
felino
- Her eyes had a feline quality, shimmering with mystery and intelligence.
Cats are just heat seeking feline missiles.
- Cats are just heat seeking feline missiles.
- It turns out if I fits, I fits reflect some pretty ancient feline instincts.
- Oh, this is Feline Eye Pencil for Mac.
- And I'm using the Charlotte Tilbury Feline flick in the shade Super Brown.
- I have this feline flick liner from Charlotte Tilbury and brown.
Examples
-
She turns that neatly feline face at an angle that makes it impossible for him to read her intentions.
Fiction book (1995) -
The actress moved with a feline grace, captivating the audience with her every step.
-
So it's this really nice feline look.
-
We could also ask what accounts for the soft and feline influence of the moon.
Fiction book (1991) -
I'm going to focus it mostly on the outer corner to give myself more of like a feline look.
-
Cats are just heat seeking feline missiles.
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Pull them out, make them more almond, make them more feline, go for it.
-
Diktonius's favorite animals were feline creatures in which nature and integrity merged to their best advantage.
Academic text (1997) -
I thought him a personable young buck, not as loutish as Idye beside him, with a feline, glossy look—if you liked that sort of thing.
Fiction book (1999) -
The dancer's movements were smooth and feline, reminiscent of a cat stalking its prey.
Synonyms
1
3.1
Moving or acting like a cat
How Lionlike
Surface Forms
Morphology
feline = felin + ine
The suffix '-ine' clearly marks a relation ('relating to'), but the root 'felin-' is a learned/Latin combining form rather than a common English base, so the morphological pieces are only partly obvious to learners.
Etymology
Feline comes from the Latin word felis meaning 'cat'. So when we call someone or something feline, we mean 'cat-like' — quietly graceful or moving like a cat.