Definition of "catfish"

catfish¹

noun
countable and uncountable, plural catfish or catfishes
1. Any fish of the order Siluriformes, mainly found in fresh water, lacking scales, and having barbels like whiskers around the mouth.
2. The meat of such a fish, popular in the Southern U.S. and Central Europe.
verb
third-person singular simple present catfishes, present participle catfishing, simple past and past participle catfished
1. To fish for catfish.

noun
plural catfishes
1. (Internet) Someone who creates a fake profile on a social media platform in order to deceive people.
2. (Internet) Such a fake profile.
verb
third-person singular simple present catfishes, present participle catfishing, simple past and past participle catfished
1. (Internet, slang, transitive) To create and operate a fake online profile to deceive (someone).
  Quotations
  Getting catfished is when someone falls for a person online who is not necessarily real. It can involve pictures, phone calls, social media profiles, text messages, e-mails and even phony friends or family members.
  2013 January 17, Mary Pilon, “In Te’o Story, Deception Ripped From the Screen”, in The New York Times‎
  [to Abed] You made a profile for a fake dude and lured her into an online relationship. [to Annie] He's catfishing you.
  2014 January 16, 12:17 from the start, in Cooperative Polygraphy (Community), season 5, episode 4 (TV), spoken by Troy (Donald Glover), via NBC