What does caitiff mean?
A caitiff is a contemptible person — someone marked by cowardice, treachery, or general moral worthlessness. The word is now chiefly literary and archaic, surviving most naturally in historical fiction, fantasy, translations of medieval romances, and deliberately old-fashioned invective, where phrases such as "base caitiff" or "wretched caitiff" evoke the insult's dramatic origins. Its connotations are strongly pejorative: to call someone a caitiff is not merely to criticize them but to consign them to a class of the ignoble and craven. The word has an interesting history, deriving ultimately from Latin captivus via Old French caitif; it originally meant a prisoner or captive before narrowing over time to describe a person of abject character. Though rare in modern conversation, caitiff remains useful for writers seeking vocabulary with genuine medieval flavor, and it offers readers of older English literature an essential term for understanding how cowardice and baseness were named and scorned in earlier centuries.
A base, cowardly, or despicable person.
"The traitor was denounced as a caitiff unworthy of any knightly honor."
Chiefly literary or archaic; sounds deliberately old-fashioned in modern speech.
(Obsolete) A prisoner or captive.
"The chronicle recorded the many caitiffs taken in the king's wars."
This is the word's original sense, now entirely obsolete.
Standard pluralization; used when referring to multiple such persons, usually in literary contexts.
"The ballad warned travelers against the band of caitiffs lurking in the forest."
"Caitiff" once meant simply "captive" — it took centuries of literary insults to turn the word into a byword for cowardice.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of caitiff
Caitiff comes from Old French caitif, meaning "captive" or "miserable wretch," which descends from Latin captivus, "taken prisoner" — the same root that gives English "captive" and "captivity." Adopted into Middle English, the word initially denoted a prisoner or captive, but through repeated use as a term of abuse in romances and drama it shifted to mean a base, cowardly scoundrel. The sense of "captive" is now obsolete, leaving only the pejorative meaning.
How caitiff is actually used
Caitiff is now almost entirely confined to literature, historical fiction, and deliberately archaic register. It carries strong pejorative connotations of moral baseness combined with cowardice, and its archaic flavor can sound theatrical in ordinary speech.
Easily confused with caitiff
A captive is a person who has been captured and held against their will, whereas a caitiff is a morally contemptible or cowardly person.