Meanings
plural fishwives
- archaicA woman who sells or works with fish; a female fishmonger.
[S]he was angry with herself; and, for that, sang the more loudly the most wicked and risqué of her slang songs, that gave the morals of a Messalina in the language of a fish-wife, and yet had an inalienable, mischievous, contagious, dauntless French grace in it withal.
1867, Ouida [pseudonym; Maria Louise Ramé], “Cigarette en Bienfaitrice”, in Under Two Flags: A Story of the Household and the Desert. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, page 121Synonyms: fishmongeress, fishwoman, piscatrix
- GeordiederogatoryA person, especially a woman, with poor personal hygiene.
- slangThe wife of a homosexual man.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA woman who sells or works with fish; a female fishmonger.
nounA vulgar, abusive or nagging woman with a loud, unpleasant voice.
Origin
- Middle Englishfysshewyfe
- Englishfishwife
From Middle English fysshewyfe; equivalent to fish + wife (“(obsolete) woman”) (see also midwife).
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Danish fiskerkone
- fiskerkonea woman who sells or works with fish
Dutch visvrouw, viswijf
- visvrouwa woman who sells or works with fish
- viswijfa vulgar, abusive or nagging woman with a loud, unpleasant voice
French poissarde, poissonnière
- poissardea woman who sells or works with fish
- poissonnièrea woman who sells or works with fish
- poissarde (cf. langage de poissarde)a vulgar, abusive or nagging woman with a loud, unpleasant voice
German Fischhändlerin, Fischverkäuferin
- Fischhändlerina woman who sells or works with fish
- Fischverkäuferina woman who sells or works with fish
Norwegian fiskerkone
- fiskerkonea woman who sells or works with fish
Polish handlarka rybami, przekupka
- handlarka rybamia woman who sells or works with fish
- przekupkaa vulgar, abusive or nagging woman with a loud, unpleasant voice
Portuguese peixeira
- peixeiraa woman who sells or works with fish
Romanian pescăreasă
- pescăreasăa woman who sells or works with fish
Scottish Gaelic cailleach-èisg, ban-iasgair
- cailleach-èisga woman who sells or works with fish
- ban-iasgaira woman who sells or works with fish
Spanish pescadera
- pescaderaa woman who sells or works with fish
Cite this entry
fishwife. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fishwife
“fishwife.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fishwife. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fishwife,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fishwife.
Source: fishwife on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.