like a cat on a hot tin roof
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Jumpy, nervous.
Register: colloquial
Where it’s used:
Used
American English
Sources & notes
Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org). Figurative class: Simile (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “like a cat on a hot tin roof” mean?
Jumpy, nervous.
Is “like a cat on a hot tin roof” formal or informal?
like a cat on a hot tin roof is generally colloquial.