sunfish

[suhn-fish]

noun, plural (especially collectively) sun·fish, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) sun·fish·es.

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.

Origin of sunfish

First recorded in 1620–30; sun + fish

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for sunfish

yacht, skiff, craft, vessel, ship, catamaran, schooner, sloop, cutter, clipper, galley, yawl, jack, bark, brig, windjammer, ketch, brigantine, pinnace, dory

Examples from the Web for sunfish

Historical Examples of sunfish

I used to love to watch the sunfish leap, they are so round and glistening and awkward.
Tales of Fishes
Zane Grey
I saw him look then as he used to in our sunfish, bent-pin days.
Tales of Fishes
Zane Grey
He talked about swordfish as carelessly as he used to talk about sunfish.
Tales of Fishes
Zane Grey
These ponds were full of sunfish, and other fish, some of which we caught.
Journal of Jasper Danckaerts, 1679-1680
Jasper Danckaerts
In half an hour they caught a beautiful string of sunfish and chubs.
Canoe Boys and Campfires
William Murray Graydon

British Dictionary definitions for sunfish

sunfish

noun plural -fish or -fishes

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sunfish

1620s, from sun (n.) + fish (n.). Used of various species, with reference to round shape or brilliant appearance. Short form sunny is attested from 1835.