Anglerfish

//ˈæŋɡlɚˌfɪʃ// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any fish of the bony fish order Lophiiformes, which have an outgrowth they wiggle to lure and catch their prey. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    fishes having large mouths with a wormlike filament attached for luring prey wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
allmouthanglerangler fishgoosefishgoosefishlophius americanus

Example

More examples

"The American Museum of Natural History’s “Creatures of Light” exhibit features jellyfish that glow green, anglerfish whose lantern-like bulbs dangle from their foreheads and luminous glowworms that hang mucus-like strands from cave ceilings to attract and ensnare their prey."

Etymology

From angler + fish.

Related phrases

hairy anglerfishhumpback anglerfishspinycoat anglerfish

More for "anglerfish"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.