Jewfish
noun
noun ·2 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any of several fish species, principally groupers and similar-appearing fish; Epinephelus itajara (Atlantic goliath grouper, spotted jewfish)
- 2 large dark grouper with a thick head and rough scales wordnet
- 3 Any of several fish species, principally groupers and similar-appearing fish; Johnius australis (bottlenose jewfish)
- 4 large important food fish of Australia; almost indistinguishable from the maigre wordnet
- 5 Any of several fish species, principally groupers and similar-appearing fish; Lateolabrax japonicus (Japanese seabass)
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 Any of several fish species, principally groupers and similar-appearing fish; Argyrosomus japonicus (silver jewfish, also known as the mulloway jewfish in eastern Australia)
- 7 Any of several fish species, principally groupers and similar-appearing fish; Argyrosomus regius (meagre)
- 8 Any of several fish species, principally groupers and similar-appearing fish; Tandanus tandanus (eel-tailed catfish, freshwater jewfish, dewfish)
- 9 Any of several fish species, principally groupers and similar-appearing fish; Glaucosoma hebraicum (West Australian dhufish, Westralian jewfish, western jewfish)
- 10 Any of several fish species, principally groupers and similar-appearing fish; Glaucosoma buergeri (Westralian jewfish)
- 11 Any of several fish species, principally groupers and similar-appearing fish; Stereolepis gigas (black jewfish, Pacific jewfish)
Etymology
For Australian fish such as Argyrosomus species, jewel and fish; see jewie. For New World species, from 17th century Jamaican English and refers to the kosher status of the Atlantic goliath grouper from at least 1697 onwards, likely as a derogatory term despite Jamaican Jews being treated better in the rule of the English than the Spanish rule.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.