cootie

English

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cootie

/ˈkuːti/

Rhymes with -uːti

Where it comes from

Probably from Malay kutu (“flea, louse”) (and/or Tagalog/Māori). First attested in English in 1917 as British army slang during World War I.

noun cooties

British Army, Canada, US, colloquial, dated, slang A louse (Pediculus humanus). "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 in reply to Susan's horrified ejaculations, "It's always lik
Australia, Canada, US, childish, colloquial, plural normally 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.
rare A nest-building female American coot (counterpart to cooter).
rare, slang A sideswiper, a type of telegraph key.

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MLA

"cootie." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/cootie. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

cootie. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/cootie

Chicago

"cootie." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/cootie.

BibTeX

@misc{cootie_2026,
  title = {cootie},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/cootie},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}