the cat's ass
- idiom
- Offensive
:
creerse la última coca-cola del desierto
- Ever since the promotion, Mark walks around like he's the cat's ass at work.
Examples
-
He thinks he's the cat's ass because he drives a fancy car.
-
Don't act like you're the cat's ass—everyone knows you're not that special.
-
She really believes she's the cat's ass just because she got a fancy car.
-
Why does she act like she's the cat's ass all the time?
-
Ever since he got promoted, he struts around the office like he's the cat's ass.
-
Don't consider yourself the cat's ass just because you won that award.
-
She thinks she's the cat's ass now that she's dating the boss.
Synonyms
∞
4.3
A rude or foolish person who behaves badly
1
9.9
A person who thinks they are more important than other people
A person who acts very important but is not
Antonyms
How Self-Important
- Offensive
43
7.2
- Offensive
- Offensive
4
6.8
- Offensive
4
7.7
- Offensive
- Offensive
12
4.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
the + cat's + ass
The literal parts ('cat's' = belonging to a cat; 'ass' = insulting person/butt) do not compose to the specific meaning 'someone who believes they are exceptionally important' — a B1 learner would likely read it literally or as a general insult but not derive the idiomatic sense. This is slang/vulgar and culturally specific, so the meaning is unpredictable from the constituents and not reliably inferable across languages or by learners without prior exposure.
Etymology
The cat's ass may come from the picture of a cat sitting with its tail up and showing its ass, looking proud and like the center of attention. That's why the phrase came to mean 'a person who thinks they are very important'.