anglerfish

ang·ler·fish
A1N1G2L1E1R1F4I1S1H4
US/ˈæŋɡlɚˌfɪʃ/UK/ˈæŋɡləˌfɪʃ/

noun

Any fish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes, which have an outgrowth they wiggle to lure and catch their prey.

Similar
goosefishanglerangler fishmonkfishlotteallmouthLophius americanus
OriginEnglish fish ← Middle English fisch ← Old English fisċ →
RareScrabble 17
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounanglerfish (countable and uncountable, plural anglerfish or anglerfishes)

plural anglerfishes · alternative angler fish · alternative angler-fish

  1. countableuncountableAny fish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes, which have an outgrowth they wiggle to lure and catch their prey.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounfishes having large mouths with a wormlike filament attached for luring prey

Similar
goosefishanglerangler fishmonkfishlotteallmouthLophius americanus
Broader
spiny-finned fishacanthopterygian
Also see
allmouthanglergoosefishlottemonkfish

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Englishangler
  2. Proto-Indo-European*péysks
  3. Proto-Germanic*fiskaz
  4. Proto-West Germanic*fisk
  5. Old Englishfisċ
  6. Middle Englishfisch
  7. Englishfish
  8. Englishanglerfish

From angler + fish.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan rap
  • rapfish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
Chinese Mandarin 鮟鱇 /𩽾𩾌
  • 鮟鱇 /𩽾𩾌 (ānkāng)fish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
Czech ďas
  • ďasfish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
Danish tudsefisk
  • tudsefiskfish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
Dutch zeeduivel
  • zeeduivelfish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
Finnish krotti, krottikala
  • krottifish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
  • krottikalafish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
French baudroie
  • baudroiefish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
German Seeteufel, Anglerfisch
  • Seeteufelfish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
  • Anglerfischfish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
Greek μελανόκητος
  • μελανόκητος (melanókitos)fish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
Hungarian horgászhal
  • horgászhalfish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
Indonesian ikan pemancing, ikan setan laut
  • ikan pemancingfish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
  • ikan setan lautfish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
Italian melanoceto, diavolo nero
  • melanocetofish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
  • diavolo nerofish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
Japanese アンコウ, 鮟鱇
  • アンコウfish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
  • 鮟鱇 (ankō)fish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
Norwegian Bokmål breiflabb, marulke
  • breiflabbfish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
  • marulkefish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
  • marulkfish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
Polish diabeł morski, żabnica
  • diabeł morskifish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
  • żabnicafish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
Portuguese tamboril, peixe-diabo
  • tamborilfish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
  • peixe-diabofish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
  • peixe-sapofish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
  • peixe-pescadorfish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
Romanian pește-viperă
  • pește-viperăfish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
Russian ры́ба-уди́льщик
  • ры́ба-уди́льщик (rýba-udílʹščik)fish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
Spanish pejesapo, rape
  • pejesapofish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
  • rapefish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
  • pescador con cañafish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
Swedish marulkartad fisk
  • marulkartad fiskfish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes
Turkish fener balığı
  • fener balığıfish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

reflashing
Cite this entry
APA

anglerfish. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anglerfish

MLA

“anglerfish.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anglerfish. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “anglerfish,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anglerfish.

Source: anglerfish on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.