A dolphin is a kind of mammal.
Source: tatoeba (65811)
Dolphin
/ˈdɒlf.ɪn/
Synonyms for "dolphin" (45 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (9)
Strong matches (14)
Related words (22)
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: alevin, benthon, benthos, cetacean, cetacean.
- Sentence evidence is available for dolphin, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from moby, opengloss, derived_reverse, wordnet, and related lexical sources.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "dolphin".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "dolphin"
Keep "dolphin" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "dolphin" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "dolphin", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "dolphin" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
8 entriesMore specific
4 entriesGameCube emulatorWii emulatorbottlenose dolphinspinner dolphin
Translations
207 translations across 148 languages.
Abkhaz
2 entries- адельфин noun (aquatic mammal)
- амшынҳәа noun (aquatic mammal)
Adyghe
2 entries- псыкъу noun (aquatic mammal)
- хыкъо noun (aquatic mammal)
Afrikaans
1 entries- dolfyn noun (aquatic mammal)
Ainu
3 entries- オコㇺ noun (aquatic mammal)
- タンヌ noun (aquatic mammal)
- トゥワユㇰ noun (aquatic mammal)
Albanian
1 entries- delfin noun (aquatic mammal)
Ancient Greek
2 entries- δελφίν noun (aquatic mammal)
- δελφίς noun (aquatic mammal)
Arabic
3 entries- دَرْفِيل noun (aquatic mammal)
- دُخَس noun (aquatic mammal)
- دُلْفِين noun (aquatic mammal)
Aragonese
1 entries- dalfín noun (aquatic mammal)
Armenian
1 entries- դելֆին noun (aquatic mammal)
Assamese
2 entries- উলুপী noun (aquatic mammal)
- শিহু noun (aquatic mammal)
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
1 entries- ܕܹܠܦܝܼܢܵܐ noun (aquatic mammal)
Asturian
3 entries- golfín noun (aquatic mammal)
- llofín noun (aquatic mammal)
- toliña noun (aquatic mammal)
Azerbaijani
1 entries- delfin noun (aquatic mammal)
Basque
1 entries- izurde noun (aquatic mammal)
Belarusian
1 entries- дэльфі́н noun (aquatic mammal)
Bengali
1 entries- ডলফিন noun (aquatic mammal)
Bikol Central
1 entries- lumod noun (aquatic mammal)
Breton
2 entries- beg-hir noun (aquatic mammal)
- delfin noun (aquatic mammal)
Bulgarian
1 entries- делфи́н noun (aquatic mammal)
Burmese
1 entries- လင်းပိုင် noun (aquatic mammal)
Catalan
1 entries- dofí noun (aquatic mammal)
Central Atlas Tamazight
1 entries- ⴰⵣⵢⴰⵎ noun (aquatic mammal)
Central Melanau
1 entries- belusok noun (aquatic mammal)
Chamicuro
1 entries- walali noun (aquatic mammal)
Cherokee
1 entries- ᏗᏁᏍᏆᏕᎩ noun (aquatic mammal)
Chinese
4 entries- 海徛 noun (aquatic mammal)
- 海豚 noun (aquatic mammal)
- 海豬 /海猪 noun (aquatic mammal)
- 海豬仔 /海猪仔 noun (aquatic mammal)
Chinese Cantonese
1 entries- 海豚 noun (aquatic mammal)
Chinese Mandarin
3 entries- 海豚 noun (aquatic mammal)
- 海豨 noun (aquatic mammal)
- 海豬 /海猪 noun (aquatic mammal)
Cornish
2 entries- morhogh noun (aquatic mammal)
- pyffer noun (aquatic mammal)
Crimean Tatar
1 entries- yunus balığı noun (aquatic mammal)
Czech
2 entries- delfín noun (aquatic mammal)
- plískavice noun (aquatic mammal)
Danish
1 entries- delfin noun (aquatic mammal)
Dutch
1 entries- dolfijn noun (aquatic mammal)
Egyptian
1 entries- s-i-in:n-Aa2:N33C*Z1-n-M14-wr:r-mw noun (aquatic mammal)
Esperanto
1 entries- delfeno noun (aquatic mammal)
Estonian
1 entries- delfiin noun (aquatic mammal)
Faroese
2 entries- delfin noun (aquatic mammal)
- springari noun (aquatic mammal)
Finnish
1 entries- delfiini noun (aquatic mammal)
French
1 entries- dauphin noun (aquatic mammal)
Galician
2 entries- golfiño noun (aquatic mammal)
- touliña noun (aquatic mammal)
Georgian
1 entries- დელფინი noun (aquatic mammal)
German
2 entries- Delfin noun (aquatic mammal)
- Delphin noun (aquatic mammal)
Greek
1 entries- δελφίνι noun (aquatic mammal)
Greenlandic
1 entries- aarluarsuk noun (aquatic mammal)
Gujarati
1 entries- શિશુમાર noun (aquatic mammal)
Haitian Creole
1 entries- dofen noun (aquatic mammal)
Hakka Chinese
1 entries- 海豚 noun (aquatic mammal)
Hawaiian
1 entries- hoikiuna noun (aquatic mammal)
Hebrew
1 entries- דּוֹלְפִין noun (aquatic mammal)
Hindi
3 entries- शिशुमार noun (aquatic mammal)
- सूँस noun (aquatic mammal)
- सूंस noun (aquatic mammal)
Hungarian
1 entries- delfin noun (aquatic mammal)
Icelandic
1 entries- höfrungur noun (aquatic mammal)
Indonesian
1 entries- lumba-lumba noun (aquatic mammal)
Interlingua
1 entries- delphino noun (aquatic mammal)
Irish
1 entries- deilf noun (aquatic mammal)
Istriot
1 entries- dulfeîn noun (aquatic mammal)
Italian
1 entries- delfino noun (aquatic mammal)
Japanese
2 entries- イルカ noun (aquatic mammal)
- 海豚 noun (aquatic mammal)
Javanese
1 entries- lumba-lumba noun (aquatic mammal)
Kabardian
1 entries- хыкхъуэ noun (aquatic mammal)
Kabyle
1 entries- azyam noun (aquatic mammal)
Kashmiri
1 entries- سوٗسمار noun (aquatic mammal)
Kazakh
1 entries- дельфин noun (aquatic mammal)
Khmer
1 entries- ផ្សោត noun (aquatic mammal)
Kikai
1 entries- 海豚 noun (aquatic mammal)
Korean
1 entries- 돌고래 noun (aquatic mammal)
Kunigami
1 entries- 海豚 noun (aquatic mammal)
Kyrgyz
1 entries- дельфин noun (aquatic mammal)
Lao
4 entries- ປາເດິນຟິນ noun (aquatic mammal)
- ປາໂລມາ noun (aquatic mammal)
- ເດິນຟິນ noun (aquatic mammal)
- ໂລມາ noun (aquatic mammal)
Latin
1 entries- delphīnus noun (aquatic mammal)
Latvian
1 entries- delfīns noun (aquatic mammal)
Laz
1 entries- delpina noun (aquatic mammal)
Lithuanian
1 entries- delfinas noun (aquatic mammal)
Low German
2 entries- Meerswien noun (aquatic mammal)
- Swienfisch noun (aquatic mammal)
Macedonian
1 entries- делфин noun (aquatic mammal)
Malagasy
1 entries- feso noun (aquatic mammal)
Malay
1 entries- lumba-lumba noun (aquatic mammal)
Malayalam
1 entries- ഏടി noun (aquatic mammal)
Maltese
1 entries- delfini noun (aquatic mammal)
Manchu
1 entries- ᠨᠠᠮᡠ ᡠᠯᡤᡳᠶᠠᠨ noun (aquatic mammal)
Mansaka
1 entries- lomba noun (aquatic mammal)
Manx
1 entries- doraid noun (aquatic mammal)
Marathi
1 entries- डॉलफिन noun (aquatic mammal)
Middle English
2 entries- delphyn noun (aquatic mammal)
- mereswyn noun (aquatic mammal)
Mongolian
1 entries- далайн гахай noun (aquatic mammal)
Māori
1 entries- aihe noun (aquatic mammal)
Navajo
1 entries- tééh hóyáanii noun (aquatic mammal)
Nivkh
1 entries- поми noun (aquatic mammal)
Norman
1 entries- dauphîn noun (aquatic mammal)
Northern Amami Ōshima
1 entries- 海豚 noun (aquatic mammal)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- delfin noun (aquatic mammal)
Norwegian Nynorsk
2 entries- delfin noun (aquatic mammal)
- springar noun (aquatic mammal)
Occitan
1 entries- dalfin noun (aquatic mammal)
Okinawan
1 entries- 海豚 noun (aquatic mammal)
Old Armenian
1 entries- դելփին noun (aquatic mammal)
Old English
1 entries- mereswīn noun (aquatic mammal)
Old Georgian
1 entries- დელფინი noun (aquatic mammal)
Ottoman Turkish
1 entries- یونس بالغی noun (aquatic mammal)
Papiamentu
1 entries- dòlfein noun (aquatic mammal)
Persian
2 entries- خوکماهی noun (aquatic mammal)
- دلفین noun (aquatic mammal)
Polish
1 entries- delfin noun (aquatic mammal)
Portuguese
2 entries- delfim noun (aquatic mammal)
- golfinho noun (aquatic mammal)
Quechua
1 entries- phujpuri noun (aquatic mammal)
Romagnol
1 entries- dilfòin noun (aquatic mammal)
Romanian
1 entries- delfin noun (aquatic mammal)
Romansch
1 entries- delfin noun (aquatic mammal)
Russian
1 entries- дельфи́н noun (aquatic mammal)
Samoan
1 entries- masimasi noun (aquatic mammal)
Sardinian
3 entries- gorfinu noun (aquatic mammal)
- grufinu noun (aquatic mammal)
- gurfinu noun (aquatic mammal)
Scots
1 entries- dowphin noun (aquatic mammal)
Scottish Gaelic
4 entries- bèist-ghorm noun (aquatic mammal)
- deilf noun (aquatic mammal)
- leumadair noun (aquatic mammal)
- muc-bhiorach noun (aquatic mammal)
Serbo-Croatian
4 entries- delfin noun (aquatic mammal)
- dupin noun (aquatic mammal)
- pliskavica noun (aquatic mammal)
- делфин noun (aquatic mammal)
Sicilian
4 entries- darfinu noun (aquatic mammal)
- derfinu noun (aquatic mammal)
- derfinu noun (aquatic mammal)
- dirfinu noun (aquatic mammal)
Sinhalese
1 entries- ඩොල්ෆින් noun (aquatic mammal)
Slovak
1 entries- delfín noun (aquatic mammal)
Slovene
1 entries- delfin noun (aquatic mammal)
Somali
1 entries- hoombarada noun (aquatic mammal)
Southern Amami Ōshima
1 entries- 海豚 noun (aquatic mammal)
Spanish
1 entries- delfín noun (aquatic mammal)
Sranan Tongo
1 entries- profosu noun (aquatic mammal)
Sundanese
1 entries- ᮜᮥᮙ᮪ᮘᮜᮥᮙ᮪ᮘ noun (aquatic mammal)
Swahili
1 entries- pomboo noun (aquatic mammal)
Swedish
1 entries- delfin noun (aquatic mammal)
Sylheti
1 entries- ꠚꠥ noun (aquatic mammal)
Tagalog
2 entries- lumba-lumba noun (aquatic mammal)
- lumbalumba noun (aquatic mammal)
Tajik
1 entries- делфин noun (aquatic mammal)
Tamil
1 entries- ஓங்கில் noun (aquatic mammal)
Ternate
2 entries- kahia noun (aquatic mammal)
- kohia noun (aquatic mammal)
Thai
2 entries- ปลาโลมา noun (aquatic mammal)
- โลมา noun (aquatic mammal)
Tibetan
1 entries- མཚོ་ཕག noun (aquatic mammal)
Tidore
1 entries- kahia noun (aquatic mammal)
Tigrinya
1 entries- ኣቡ ሰላማ noun (aquatic mammal)
Turkish
3 entries- delfin noun (aquatic mammal)
- yunus noun (aquatic mammal)
- ırgay noun (aquatic mammal)
Turkmen
1 entries- delfin noun (aquatic mammal)
Ugaritic
1 entries- 𐎀𐎐𐎃𐎗 noun (aquatic mammal)
Ukrainian
1 entries- дельфі́н noun (aquatic mammal)
Urdu
1 entries- ڈالفن noun (aquatic mammal)
Uyghur
1 entries- دېلفىن noun (aquatic mammal)
Uzbek
1 entries- delfin noun (aquatic mammal)
Venetan
2 entries- delfin noun (aquatic mammal)
- dolfin noun (aquatic mammal)
Vietnamese
1 entries- cá heo noun (aquatic mammal)
Welsh
1 entries- dolffin noun (aquatic mammal)
West-Frisian
1 entries- dolfin noun (aquatic mammal)
Wu Chinese
1 entries- 海豚 noun (aquatic mammal)
Yanyuwa
1 entries- miriyi noun (aquatic mammal)
Yiddish
1 entries- דעלפֿין noun (aquatic mammal)
Yámana
1 entries- sauyánux noun (aquatic mammal)
Zulu
1 entries- ihlengethwa noun (aquatic mammal)
Sample sentences
15 total sentences available.
A dolphin is a mammal.
Source: tatoeba (65812)
The dolphin is a very intelligent animal.
Source: tatoeba (65813)
The dolphin is an intelligent and playful creature.
Source: tatoeba (65814)
Showing 4 of 15 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "dolphin"?
Closest matches include alevin, benthon, benthos, cetacean, cetacean.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "dolphin"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.