cootie
(dated, British Army, _, military slang, or, North America, colloquial) A louse ().
Etymology timeline
Born ~1917 · 1 year of recorded useDefinitions
(dated, British Army, _, military slang, or, North America, colloquial) A louse ().
"Tell Rilla I'm glad her war-baby is turning out so well, and tell Susan that I'm fighting a good fight against both Huns and cooties.""Mrs. Dr. dear," whispered Susan solemnly, "what are cooties?"Mrs. Blythe whispered back and then said…
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(North America, Australia, colloquial, childish, usually, in the plural) Any germ or contaminant, real or imagined, especially from the opposite gender (for pre-pubescent children).
I’m not drinking from his glass until I wash the cooties off it.
“the raised catholic > cootie catcher > tarot cards > practicing witch pipeline”
— Bluesky· May 2026
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(rare) A nest-building female American coot (counterpart to cooter).
"Tell Rilla I'm glad her war-baby is turning out so well, and tell Susan that I'm fighting a good fight against both Huns and cooties.""Mrs. Dr. dear," whispered Susan solemnly, "what are cooties?"Mrs. Blythe whispered back and then said…
Cootie means: A nest-building female American coot (counterpart to cooter).. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than risky behaviour. If your teen uses it, context will usually make the intent clear. A short, curious question about where they heard it is usually all that is needed to know whether to follow up.
cootie means: A nest-building female American coot (counterpart to cooter).. Register: neutral, standard English. Common learner mistake is using the word in a register it does not fit, or assuming a single global meaning; always check the context before producing it yourself. A formal-English equivalent (a synonym or descriptive phrase) is usually safer in writing. When in doubt, paraphrase rather than reuse the slang form.
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- cooty80%
(slang) Afflicted with body lice or coots.
- cooty72%
Slang adjective describing someone or something infested with cooties — body lice or, in the playground sense, an imaginary contagious uncoolness. To call something or someone cooty is to mark it as grubby, undesirable, or socially contaminated. The term echoes generations of childhood games where 'cooties' were a mock disease you could catch from touching the wrong person. In adult usage it retains that tone of theatrical disgust, though always with a nudge-and-wink awareness that it's fundamentally silly.
- crazy as a cootie67%
(US, colloquial, simile) Completely crazy; insane.