jellyfish

[jel-ee-fish]

noun

plural

jellyfish ,

plural

jellyfishes .

1. any of various marine coelenterates of a soft, gelatinous structure, especially one with an umbrellalike body and long, trailing tentacles; medusa.

2. Informal.,  a person without strong resolve or stamina; an indecisive or weak person.

jellyfish

/ ˈdʒɛlɪˌfɪʃ /

noun

1. any marine medusoid coelenterate of the class Scyphozoa, having a gelatinous umbrella-shaped body with trailing tentacles

2. any other medusoid coelenterate

3. informal,  a weak indecisive person

Word History and Origins

Origin of jellyfish¹

1700–10; 1910–15 jellyfish for def. 2; jelly + fish

Example Sentences

While you can’t help but appreciate the cherry red of the deep-sea atolla jellyfish, you will also learn why its unusual pigment persists in the lightless depths.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

There’s a submarine landscape of bubbles and jellyfish; a radiant garden of flowers; a battle with flying swords and shields and a swirling snake puppet.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Now and then a great jellyfish floated by, like an open umbrella made of glass, pulsing its way along just beneath the surface.

Read more on Literature

Birds often swallow plastic fragments, and turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish.

Read more on BBC

It was first grouped with squids and octopuses, then with sea slugs, jellyfish ancestors, and even worms.

Read more on Science Daily

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