A group of cats is most often called a clowder. A glaring of cats is a recognized alternative collective expression, usually explained as a reference to cats staring at one another. Both words are attested, and neither is the only correct choice.
What a glaring of cats means
“Glaring” is one of several collective expressions for cats. Explanatory sources connect it with the image of cats staring at one another, often with a suspicious or unfriendly look. Treat that as a descriptive association rather than a rule about how cats actually behave. The word is playful and evocative, which is why it turns up in lists of unusual animal group names.
Clowder: the neutral term
If you need one word that any reader will understand, use clowder. Dictionary.com defines it as “a group or cluster of cats,” and Collins English Dictionary describes it as a collective term for cats. Collins gives its first recorded use as 1795–1805. That is a word-history date range, not a measure of how often people use the term today.
Cats Protection’s A Glossary of Cats (Autumn 2021) traces the origin of clowder, along with clutter and cluster, to the Middle English clodder, meaning a clotted mass. Keep that account attributed to the glossary and the dictionaries; it explains the shared root, not a step-by-step history of how each word changed.
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Other words for a group of cats
Collective nouns for animals mix established dictionary words with playful coinages. The table below sorts the terms that appear in the sources by what they are good for.
| Term | Typical use | Tone or register | Notes from the sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clowder | Any group or cluster of cats | Neutral, dictionary-defined | Listed by Dictionary.com and Collins; the safest choice in running text |
| Glaring | A group of cats, usually suggesting cats staring at one another | Visual and comic | Recognized as an alternative; the staring image is an explanation, not a behavioral rule |
| Clutter | A group of cats | Neutral to informal | Listed in Cats Protection’s glossary and linked to the same clodder origin as clowder |
| Cluster | A group of cats | Neutral | Listed in Cats Protection’s glossary with the same origin |
| Pounce | A playful group name | Whimsical | Appears among colorful alternatives; not a standard term |
| Douts | A playful group name | Whimsical | Appears among colorful alternatives; not a standard term |
| Nuisance | A playful group name | Humorous | Appears among colorful alternatives; not a standard term |
The Cats Protection glossary states: “One of the most common terms for this purpose is ‘clowder’, though ‘clutter’ and ‘cluster’ are not far behind.” The sources do not establish a measured ranking of these words, so that sentence is the best available guide to relative familiarity.
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Terminology changes when the cats are young or living outside. For kittens, a litter is the ordinary term, particularly for siblings born together. Kindle is also used for kittens, but the sources do not establish it as the universal standard, so it is safe to present it as an accepted alternative.
For feral cats, Cats Protection’s glossary uses colony. That is a descriptive term for a social group living outside, and it is not a whimsical alternative like glaring. Use it when the context is free-roaming or community cats rather than a household group.
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How to use these words in writing
- For clarity: write “clowder” when the meaning must be unmistakable, such as in educational or reference material.
- For humor or style: “glaring” works well in captions, headlines and light commentary, where the staring image adds to the joke.
- For kittens: use “litter” for siblings born together; use “kindle” only if you can make clear what you mean.
- For feral or community cats: use “colony,” which is the term the Cats Protection glossary applies to feral cats.
- For playful names: pounce, douts and nuisance are colorful, but present them as fanciful alternatives rather than common usage.
In a sentence, a reader can be told that “a group of cats can be called a clowder, and ‘glaring’ is another recognized, more evocative option.” That phrasing gives the neutral term first and the expressive one second, without suggesting there is a single correct answer.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where these definitions come from
The definitions above come from Dictionary.com’s “Clowder Definition & Meaning” entry, Collins English Dictionary’s “Clowder definition and meaning” entry, Cats Protection’s A Glossary of Cats (Autumn 2021), and Cats.com’s explainer “What Is a Glaring of Cats? (And Other Words for Cat Collections).” The dictionary entries define the core terms and their origins, the Cats Protection glossary supplies the wider list and the feral-cat term, and the Cats.com article covers glaring and kitten terminology. None of these sources reports how often each term is used, so this article does not rank them by popularity.
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