sunfish
Americannoun
-
the ocean sunfish, Mola mola.
-
any of various other fishes of the family Molidae.
-
any of several small, brightly colored, spiny-rayed freshwater fishes of the genus Lepomis, of North America, having a deep, compressed body.
noun
-
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
-
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:
In a photo posted by the Kaikyokan aquarium in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi prefecture, the sunfish is seen swimming in front of photos of human faces attached to a row of uniforms.
From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2025
Ocean sunfish sightings tend to rise when velella observations do, Jaros said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2024
But someone since then dumped in a bucket of wide-mouth bass, which eat native sunfish eggs, Lucero said.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 14, 2023
Despite the fish’s death, it is heartening to see that sunfish can currently survive to reach such a massive size in the wild, Thys says.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 20, 2022
But we were apt to catch sunfish and cat too small to keep.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
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.
