Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

sunfish

American  
[suhn-fish] / ˈsʌnˌfɪʃ /

noun

plural

sunfish,

plural

sunfishes
  1. the ocean sunfish, Mola mola.

  2. any of various other fishes of the family Molidae.

  3. any of several small, brightly colored, spiny-rayed freshwater fishes of the genus Lepomis, of North America, having a deep, compressed body.


sunfish British  
/ ˈsʌnˌfɪʃ /

noun

  1. 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

  2. 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

Etymology

Origin of sunfish

First recorded in 1620–30; sun + fish

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.

Sunfish, found in every ocean in the world, are a delicacy in Japan.

From BBC • Jan. 20, 2025

The onlookers were aboard the Sunfish, a boat with Channel Islands Expeditions, when a pair of gray whales approached the vessel Monday morning.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 2, 2023

En Denver, C tocaba con una banda llamada Sunfish.

From New York Times • Sep. 9, 2022

She and her six siblings spent summers at Lake Sunapee in New Hampshire, piloting motorboats and a Sunfish.

From New York Times • Oct. 1, 2021

And so I walked five thoroughly agreeable miles up Kittatinny to Sunfish Pond, a very comely forty-one-acre pond surrounded by woods.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson