sunfish

S1U1N1F4I1S1H4
/ˈsʌnˌfɪʃ/

noun

Any of various small freshwater fishes of the family Centrarchidae, often with iridescent colours and having a laterally compressed body.

Similar
ocean sunfishmolaheadfishcentrarchid
Less commonScrabble 13
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Meanings

nounsunfish (plural sunfish or sunfishes)

plural sunfishes

  1. Any of various small freshwater fishes of the family Centrarchidae, often with iridescent colours and having a laterally compressed body.
  2. Any of various large marine fishes of the family Molidae that have an oval compressed body.
verbsunfish (third-person singular simple present sunfishes, present participle sunfishing, simple past and past participle sunfished)

present singular third person sunfishes · participle present sunfishing · participle past sunfished · past sunfished

  1. intransitiveOf an animal such as a bull or a horse: to twist the body into a crescent shape and roll back and forth.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounamong the largest bony fish; pelagic fish having an oval compressed body with high dorsal and anal fins and caudal fin reduced to a rudder-like lobe; worldwide in warm waters

Similar
ocean sunfishmolaheadfish
Broader
plectognathplectognath fish

nounsmall carnivorous freshwater percoid fishes of North America usually having a laterally compressed body and metallic luster: crappies, black bass, bluegills, pumpkinseed

Similar
centrarchid
Broader
percoid fishpercoidpercoidean
Also see
centrarchidheadfishmolaocean sunfishopahpondfish

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

* From sun + fish. * (type of fish): Perhaps from the rounded body shape.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Basque atalo
  • atalofish of the family Molidae
Bulgarian риба луна
  • риба луна (riba luna)fish of the family Molidae
Catalan centràrquid, bot
  • centràrquidfish of the family Centrarchidae
  • botfish of the family Molidae
  • peix llunafish of the family Molidae
  • molafish of the family Molidae
Chinese 翻車魚 /翻车鱼, 曼波魚 /曼波鱼
  • 翻車魚 /翻车鱼 (fānchēyú)fish of the family Molidae
  • 曼波魚 /曼波鱼fish of the family Molidae
Czech okounek, měsíčník
  • okounekfish of the family Centrarchidae
  • měsíčníkfish of the family Molidae
Danish klumpfisk
  • klumpfiskfish of the family Molidae
Dutch klompvis, maanvis
  • klompvisfish of the family Molidae
  • maanvisfish of the family Molidae
Estonian kuukala
  • kuukalafish of the family Molidae
Finnish aurinkoahven, möhkäkala
  • aurinkoahvenfish of the family Centrarchidae
  • möhkäkalafish of the family Molidae
French môle, poisson-lune
  • môlefish of the family Molidae
  • poisson-lunefish of the family Molidae
  • molidéfish of the family Molidae
German Sonnenbarsch, Mondfisch
  • Sonnenbarschfish of the family Centrarchidae
  • Mondfischfish of the family Molidae
Hebrew דג השמש
  • דג השמשfish of the family Molidae
Hungarian holdhal
  • holdhalfish of the family Molidae
Icelandic tunglfiskur
  • tunglfiskurfish of the family Molidae
Italian pesce luna, ortagorisco
  • pesce lunafish of the family Molidae
  • ortagoriscofish of the family Molidae
Japanese 翻車魚, マンボウ
  • 翻車魚fish of the family Molidae
  • マンボウ (manbō)fish of the family Molidae
Korean 개복치
  • 개복치 (gaebokchi)fish of the family Molidae
Latvian mēnesszivs
  • mēnesszivsfish of the family Molidae
Lithuanian paprastoji mėnulžuvė, mėnulžuvė
  • paprastoji mėnulžuvėfish of the family Molidae
  • mėnulžuvėfish of the family Molidae
Māori rātāhuihui
  • rātāhuihuifish of the family Molidae
Norwegian månefisk, klumpfisk
  • månefiskfish of the family Molidae
  • klumpfiskfish of the family Molidae
Polish bassek, okończyk
  • bassekfish of the family Centrarchidae
  • okończykfish of the family Centrarchidae
  • samogłówfish of the family Molidae
Portuguese peixe-lua
  • peixe-luafish of the family Molidae
Russian со́лнечный о́кунь, со́лнечная ры́ба
  • со́лнечный о́кунь (sólnečnyj ókunʹ)fish of the family Centrarchidae
  • со́лнечная ры́ба (sólnečnaja rýba)fish of the family Centrarchidae
  • рыба-луна (ryba-luna)fish of the family Molidae
Spanish centrárquido, pez luna
  • centrárquidofish of the family Centrarchidae
  • pez lunafish of the family Molidae
Swedish klumpfisk, solfisk
  • klumpfiskfish of the family Molidae
  • solfiskfish of the family Molidae
Turkish ay balığı
  • ay balığıfish of the family Molidae
Ukrainian риба-місяць
  • риба-місяць (ryba-misjacʹ)fish of the family Molidae
Vietnamese cá mặt trăng
  • cá mặt trăngfish of the family Molidae
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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