dugong

American  

[doo-gong, -gawng] / ˈdu gɒŋ, -gɔŋ /

noun

• dugongs
  plural

1. an herbivorous, aquatic mammal, Dugong dugon, of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, having a barrel-shaped body, flipperlike forelimbs, no hind limbs, and a triangular tail: widespread but rare.

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dugong British  

/ ˈduːɡɒŋ /

noun

1. a whalelike sirenian mammal, Dugong dugon, occurring in shallow tropical waters from E Africa to Australia: family Dugongidae

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• dugongs
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of dugong

1790–1800; < New Latin < German: first recorded as dugung, apparently misrepresentation of Malay duyung, or a cognate Austronesian word

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Compare meaning

How does dugong compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• dugong vs. manatee

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dugong dugongs

An environmental impact assessment found that the dredging in nearby Malakal Harbour -- expected to start this year -- will cause the loss of 4.26 hectares of coral, impacting endangered turtles, fish and dugong.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

That sparked ultimately unsuccessful environmental challenges to the relocation plan, citing risks to marine life such as the endangered dugong, a relative of the manatee.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

Pyenson also noted that sea cow fossils often appear in mixed species groups, making it likely that further research at the site could uncover additional dugong relatives.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 12, 2025

For Alice McGown, a Los Angeles-based activist, the right to protest at COP meant dressing as a dugong, or seacow, holding a sign saying: “No More Fossils.”

From Washington Times ● Dec. 3, 2023

The dugong is a sea mammal found on the north coast of Australia.

From Peeps At Many Lands: Australia by Percy F. S. (Percy Frederick Seaton) Spence

The region hosts the world's second-largest population of dugongs -- herbivorous marine mammals known as "sea cows" that are listed as vulnerable -- with an estimated 5,000 to 7,500 individuals.

From Barron's ● Mar. 17, 2026

Rising temperatures and increasing salinity place further pressures on the seagrass meadows that dugongs depend on.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 12, 2025

The goal was to document a seafloor famously lush in seagrass, corals, turtles, dugongs, rays and sharks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2025

This characteristic, called pachyosteosclerosis, is absent in living cetaceans - the group including whales, dolphins and porpoises - but present in sirenians, another marine mammal group including manatees and dugongs.

From Reuters ● Aug. 2, 2023

We saw several dugongs on the way, which some esteem extra good food. 

From Adventures in New Guinea by James Chalmers

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