sunfish
Americannoun
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sunfish,
plural
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sunfishes
plural
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the ocean sunfish, Mola mola.
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any of various other fishes of the family Molidae.
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any of several small, brightly colored, spiny-rayed freshwater fishes of the genus Lepomis, of North America, having a deep, compressed body.
noun
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any large plectognath fish of the family Molidae, of temperate and tropical seas, esp Mola mola, which has a large rounded compressed body, long pointed dorsal and anal fins, and a fringelike tail fin
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any of various small predatory North American freshwater percoid fishes of the family Centrarchidae, typically having a compressed brightly coloured body
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sunfish
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The researchers suggest that sharp-tail sunfish tissue may respond to powerful impacts in a distinctive way.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026
A group of killer whales have been documented blowing a sunfish to bits in an unusual underwater escapade offering never-before-seen insights into orca behaviour, according to research released Thursday.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
The female released the sunfish just before the male struck it.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026
The sunfish is already dead -- this isn't an elaborate murder ritual.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
I catch three pumpkinseed sunfish and a catfish while Bando gathers tender dandelion leaves, chicory greens, and wild carrots for salad.
From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
In the smaller aquaria were shown the game fish of the State, a list of which comprises the black bass, crappie, sunfishes, yellow perch, white perch, warmouth bass, and the two varieties of striped bass.
From Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission by Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
