Most viverrids have slender bodies with a long tail and short legs terminating in four- or five-toed feet. The neck and head are typically elongated, with a tapered muzzle and small ears. Most species have anal scent glands. Some viverrids are nocturnal, some diurnal. Many bear two annual litters of two to four young. Life expectancy ranges from 5 to 15 years.

Most viverrids are good climbers. Some, such as the fossa and the binturong (Arctictis binturong), spend most of their lives in trees, as do several palm civets, such as the masked palm civet (Paguma larvata) and the golden palm civet (Paradoxurus zeylonensis). Many are good swimmers, and two species, the aquatic genet (Osbornictis piscivora) and the otter civet (Cynogale bennettii), are semiaquatic. Viverrids are mostly carnivorous, their diet consisting of small rodents such as mice and voles, birds and their eggs, reptiles, amphibians, fruits, nuts, and insects. Some, such as palm civets, eat mostly fruit; their frugivorous habit is reflected in the molars, which are larger and flatter than those of carnivourous viverrids.

Viverrids rely heavily on scent for communication. In civets, perineal glands produce a secretion that is stored in a pouch and used for scent marking. Although the secretions of most civets are strong and disagreeable, those of African civets (Civettictis civetta) are musky and have a pleasant odour. These secretions and those of the Oriental civets (genera Viverricula and Viverra) are used in the perfume industry, and captured civets are kept specifically for the production of “civet musk.” For this reason the African civet is probably the most economically important viverrid.