baity

• IPA^(key): /ˈbeɪti/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪti

From bait (“fit of anger”) +‎ -y.

• batey

baity (comparative baitier, superlative baitiest)

1. (British, dated, slang) Angry, bad-tempered.
   • 1907 August 17, The Rev. A. N. Malan, “The Mystery of Abbeyside School”, in The Boy's Own Paper, volume XXIX, number 1492, London: Religious Tract Society, page 4:

     “Oh, sir—uncle is such a batey old chap. It was a spree! I never saw him so mad!”

   • 1936, Aldous Huxley, Eyeless in Gaza, London: Chatto & Windus, page 55:

     ‘If Jimbug gets baity with me, like that time last week . . .’ Remembering the scene, Anthony frowned; the blood came up into his cheeks.

   • 1987 September 24, Richard Curtis, Ben Elton, “Ink and Incapability” (11:46 from the start), in Mandie Fletcher, director, Blackadder the Third (television production), via BBC1:

     Blackadder: Baldrick, where's the manuscript? / Baldrick: You mean the big papery thing tied up with string? / Blackadder: Yes, Baldrick, the manuscript belonging to Dr Johnson. / Baldrick: You mean the baity fellow in the black coat who just left?

   • 2011 January 18, Lord Strathclyde (Leader of the House of Lords), “Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill”, in parliamentary debates (House of Lords)‎^[1], column 314:

     I welcome the offer made by the noble and learned Lord to discuss and to negotiate. If only he had done that at the beginning of November when I talked to him about the number of days that we should sit; but the noble and learned Lord got batey with me when I suggested that we should negotiate.

From bait (“something alluring”) +‎ -y.

baity (comparative baitier, superlative baitiest)

1. (informal) Constituting bait (something intended to allure), especially Oscar bait or clickbait.
   • 1963 September 4, “Manchester’s Madison”, in The Capital Times, volume 92, number 72, Madison, Wis., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 19, column 3:

     Ginger is the latest, baitiest fashion that ever helped a girl make an impression . . . . in wonderful “Spartine” colors of black, brown, navy, cranberry, moss, red and blue.

   • 2001 November 1, Jeanny, “FIC: The Bait Bites Back, PG, 1/1”, in alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer.creative‎^[2] (Usenet), archived from the original on 14 May 2025:

     "Hey, can we put her in the gold bikini? You know, the one like Princess Leia..." Andrew trailed off at the disgusted looks from his companions. […] "She's the first person we've captured, that's all," he muttered. "I thought it would make her look baitier."

   • 2013 August 23, Catherine Shoard, “Oscar predictions 2014: Foxcatcher”, in The Guardian‎^[3]:

     Could it be almost too baity? It's ticking almost every Academy Award box going.

   • 2015 December 20, Junglist [Jeremy Ray], “Check Out A Brand New Dark Souls 3 Boss In Action (Spoiler)”, in Kotaku Australia‎^[4], archived from the original on 7 September 2023:

     Ignore the baity headline on the IGN video, it’s not the “craziest Souls boss yet” (bloody internet hyperbole), but it’s still cool […]

   • 2020 June 18, James Poulter, “The Far-Right Plot to Flood Radio Airwaves with Racism”, in Vice‎^[5]:

     A far-right talking point had been turned into a clip with a baity headline, and attracted over 26,000 views.

   • 2024 March 9, Katie Rosseinsky, “How Oscar bait took over awards season: Method acting, true-life tales and prosthetic honkers”, in The Independent‎^[6], London: Independent News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 March 2024:

     Survival of the baitiest: ‘Shakespeare in Love’, ‘The English Patient’, ‘Maestro’, ‘The Iron Lady’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ could all be considered awards bait

• “batey adj.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present

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