Meanings
plural goatfishes
- Any of the family Mullidae of brightly coloured fish with two barbels on the chin.
Synonyms: mullid, red mullet
- alternativeAlternative spelling of goat-fish (“mythical beast”).
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny of the family Mullidae of brightly coloured fish with two barbels on the chin.
More synonyms by meaning
nounbrightly colored tropical fishes with chin barbels
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From goat + fish. The Mullidae sense is because of the fish's beard (as it were) seeming like a goat's beard (a goatee). The chimera sense is because the mythical beast is half goat and half fish.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque barbarin
- barbarinfish of the family Mullidae
Catalan moll
- mollfish of the family Mullidae
Finnish mullo
- mullofish of the family Mullidae
Italian triglia
- trigliafish of the family Mullidae
Japanese 比売知
- 比売知 (himeji)fish of the family Mullidae
Russian султа́нка, барабу́лька
- султа́нка (sultánka)fish of the family Mullidae
- барабу́лька (barabúlʹka)fish of the family Mullidae
Cite this entry
goatfish. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/goatfish
“goatfish.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/goatfish. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “goatfish,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/goatfish.
Source: goatfish on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.