wrasse

American  

[ras] / ræs /

noun

1. any of various marine fishes of the family Labridae, especially of the genus Labrus, having thick, fleshy lips, powerful teeth, and usually a brilliant color, certain species being valued as food fishes.

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wrasse British  

/ ræs /

noun

1. any marine percoid fish of the family Labridae, of tropical and temperate seas, having thick lips, strong teeth, and usually a bright coloration: many are used as food fishes

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Etymology

Origin of wrasse

1665–75; apparently originally a plural of dial. (Cornwall) wrah, wraugh, wrath < Cornish wragh, lenited form of gwragh literally, old woman, hag; compare Welsh gwrach ( en ), Breton gwrac’h, also with both senses

Example Sentences

Previous studies had already shown that cleaner wrasse can identify themselves in a mirror.

From Science Daily • Feb. 23, 2026

And on Norfolk Island — a remote rock in the Pacific Ocean with about 2,000 residents and essentially no exports to the U.S. — a children’s book author memed a baffled-looking tropical wrasse fish.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 20, 2025

Following a visit to the site of the incident, Mr Moyes believes the dead fish in the water to be wrasse.

From BBC • Sep. 30, 2024

Lorian Schweikert was fishing in the Florida Keys when she hooked a hogfish—a type of tasty wrasse that’s known for its ability to change colors to match its coral reef environment.

From Scientific American • Aug. 22, 2023

Comber, kom′bēr, n. a name applied to the gaper, a sea-perch, and to a species of wrasse.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various