Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

pufferfish

/ˈpʌfɚˌfɪʃ/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.98 in modern English

Syllables: puffer-fish
IPA: /ˈpʌfɚˌfɪʃ/

24

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any species of fish of the family Tetraodontidae that have the ability to inflate themselves to a globe several times their normal size by swallowing water or air when threatened; puffer, blowfish, swellfish, balloonfish, globefish.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

The meat of these fish, a delicacy popular in Japan served raw as sushi that may, if improperly prepared, contain deadly levels of neurotoxins; (Japanese) fugu.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"Recently, however, a scientist in Britain proposed a short cut that would use the genome of the fugu, a pufferfish known as a dangerous delicacy among Japanese sushi eaters, to speed the search for human genes."

Etymology

Etymology tree English puff Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English puffer Proto-Indo-European *péysks Proto-Germanic *fiskaz Proto-West Germanic *fisk Old English fisċ Middle English fisch English fish English pufferfish From puffer + fish.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈpʌfɚˌfɪʃ/

Usage

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Food.

Inflected Forms

pufferfishes (plural)

Synonyms

balloonfish blowfish globefish puffer swellfish fugu sea squab

Questions

How do you pronounce pufferfish?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpʌfɚˌfɪʃ/.
What does pufferfish mean?: Any species of fish of the family Tetraodontidae that have the ability to inflate themselves to a globe several times their normal size by swallowing water or air when threatened; puffer, blowfish, swellfish, balloonfish, globefish.
Where does pufferfish come from?: Etymology tree English puff Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English puffer Proto-Indo-European *péysks Proto-Germanic *fiskaz Proto-West Germanic *fisk Old English fisċ Middle English fisch English fish English pufferfish From puffer + fish.

How to pronounce pufferfish

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “pufferfish”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈpʌfɚˌfɪʃ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “pufferfish”.
Repeat and practice — Say “pufferfish” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.