Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

goblin shark

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.25 in modern English

Syllables: gob-lin shark
IPA

21

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

2

Syllables

11

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A species of mackerel shark, Mitsukurina owstoni, that has a long snout-like protrusion from its forehead and grows to 3.8 meters in length.

Example Sentences

"The long flexible caudal fin, without a ventral lobe, the soft, flabby body, and small, soft paired and unpaired fins, suggest that the goblin shark is a relatively inactive, slow swimming species with a density close to seawater."
"Humans rarely see the goblin shark and we do not have a lot of information about them. Goblin sharks have a long, flat, pointy snout and their jaws protrude when they are eating. This makes the goblin shark look very unusual."
"From the few goblin sharks that have been caught and studied, scientists believe them to be ambush predators that sit and wait for prey such as small midwater fishes, crustaceans, and squids."

Etymology

Calque of Japanese 天狗鮫 (tenguzame), from 天狗 (tengu, “a mythical creature with a long nose”) + 鮫 (same, “shark”).

Inflected Forms

goblin sharks (plural)

Questions

What does goblin shark mean?: A species of mackerel shark, Mitsukurina owstoni, that has a long snout-like protrusion from its forehead and grows to 3.8 meters in length.
Where does goblin shark come from?: Calque of Japanese 天狗鮫 (tenguzame), from 天狗 (tengu, “a mythical creature with a long nose”) + 鮫 (same, “shark”).

How to pronounce goblin shark

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