The police followed a red herring while they let the true criminal escape.
Source: tatoeba (238183)
Herring
/ˈhɛɹɪŋ/
Synonyms for "herring" (10 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: alewife, atlantic herring, clupea harangus, clupea harengus, common herring.
- Sentence evidence is available for herring, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from derived_reverse, opengloss, wordnet.
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 "herring".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "herring"
Keep "herring" 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 "herring" 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 "herring", 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 "herring" 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
5 entriesCollocations
11 entriesAtlantic herringblueback herringherring catchherring fleetherring industryherring mealherring productherring stockpickled herringred herringsmoked herring
Inflections
3 entriesDerivations
1 entriesTranslations
101 translations across 73 languages.
Albanian
1 entries- harengë noun (fish in Clupea)
Arabic
2 entries- رنجة noun (fish in Clupea)
- رنكة noun (fish in Clupea)
Armenian
1 entries- ծովատառեխ noun (fish in Clupea)
Azerbaijani
1 entries- siyənək noun (fish in Clupea)
Belarusian
1 entries- селядзе́ц noun (fish in Clupea)
Bulgarian
1 entries- хе́ринга noun (fish in Clupea)
Catalan
1 entries- areng noun (fish in Clupea)
Chinese Cantonese
1 entries- 希靈魚 /希灵鱼 noun (fish in Clupea)
Chinese Mandarin
1 entries- 鯡魚 /鲱鱼 noun (fish in Clupea)
Chukchi
2 entries- нучунуч noun (fish in Clupea)
- нучут noun (fish in Clupea)
Cornish
1 entries- hernen wynn noun (fish in Clupea)
Czech
1 entries- sleď noun (fish in Clupea)
Danish
1 entries- sild noun (fish in Clupea)
Dutch
1 entries- haring noun (fish in Clupea)
Esperanto
1 entries- haringo noun (fish in Clupea)
Estonian
1 entries- heeringas noun (fish in Clupea)
Faroese
1 entries- sild noun (fish in Clupea)
Finnish
3 entries- haili noun (fish in Clupea)
- silakka noun (fish in Clupea)
- silli noun (fish in Clupea)
French
1 entries- hareng noun (fish in Clupea)
Galician
2 entries- arenga noun (fish in Clupea)
- arengue noun (fish in Clupea)
German
1 entries- Hering noun (fish in Clupea)
Greek
2 entries- ρέγγα noun (fish in Clupea)
- ρέγκα noun (fish in Clupea)
Greenlandic
1 entries- ammassassuaq noun (fish in Clupea)
Hebrew
2 entries- דג מלוח noun (fish in Clupea)
- מָלִיחַ noun (fish in Clupea)
Hungarian
1 entries- hering noun (fish in Clupea)
Icelandic
1 entries- síld noun (fish in Clupea)
Ido
1 entries- haringo noun (fish in Clupea)
Ingrian
1 entries- haili noun (fish in Clupea)
Irish
1 entries- scadán noun (fish in Clupea)
Italian
1 entries- aringa noun (fish in Clupea)
Japanese
2 entries- ニシン noun (fish in Clupea)
- 鰊 noun (fish in Clupea)
Kazakh
1 entries- майшабақ noun (fish in Clupea)
Korean
1 entries- 청어 noun (fish in Clupea)
Latin
4 entries- allec noun (fish in Clupea)
- chalcis noun (fish in Clupea)
- haringus noun (fish in Clupea)
- merlucius noun (fish in Clupea)
Latvian
3 entries- reņģe noun (fish in Clupea)
- siļķe noun (fish in Clupea)
- strimala noun (fish in Clupea)
Lithuanian
1 entries- silkė noun (fish in Clupea)
Lower Sorbian
2 entries- jerjeg noun (fish in Clupea)
- jerježk noun (fish in Clupea)
Luxembourgish
1 entries- Hierk noun (fish in Clupea)
Macedonian
1 entries- харинга noun (fish in Clupea)
Manx
2 entries- ree ny marrey noun (fish in Clupea)
- skeddan noun (fish in Clupea)
Māori
1 entries- aua noun (fish in Clupea)
Nootka
1 entries- ƛusmit noun (fish in Clupea)
Norman
3 entries- herreng noun (fish in Clupea)
- héthan noun (fish in Clupea)
- ĥéren noun (fish in Clupea)
Northern Sami
1 entries- sildi noun (fish in Clupea)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- sild noun (fish in Clupea)
Norwegian Nynorsk
1 entries- sild noun (fish in Clupea)
Old Norse
2 entries- síl noun (fish in Clupea)
- síld noun (fish in Clupea)
Pannonian Rusyn
1 entries- гаринґа noun (fish in Clupea)
Persian
1 entries- شاهماهی noun (fish in Clupea)
Polish
1 entries- śledź noun (fish in Clupea)
Portuguese
1 entries- arenque noun (fish in Clupea)
Romanian
1 entries- hering noun (fish in Clupea)
Russian
2 entries- сельдь noun (fish in Clupea)
- селёдка noun (fish in Clupea)
Saterland Frisian
1 entries- Hiering noun (fish in Clupea)
Scottish Gaelic
1 entries- sgadan noun (fish in Clupea)
Serbo-Croatian
4 entries- haringa noun (fish in Clupea)
- sleđ noun (fish in Clupea)
- слеђ noun (fish in Clupea)
- харинга noun (fish in Clupea)
Slovak
1 entries- sleď noun (fish in Clupea)
Slovene
1 entries- sled noun (fish in Clupea)
Spanish
1 entries- arenque noun (fish in Clupea)
Sudovian
1 entries- sīlecke noun (fish in Clupea)
Swedish
2 entries- sill noun (fish in Clupea)
- strömming noun (fish in Clupea)
Tunisian Arabic
1 entries- رنڨة noun (fish in Clupea)
Turkish
1 entries- ringa noun (fish in Clupea)
Turkmen
1 entries- takgaz noun (fish in Clupea)
Ukrainian
1 entries- оселе́дець noun (fish in Clupea)
Upper Sorbian
2 entries- harjenk noun (fish in Clupea)
- jerij noun (fish in Clupea)
Venetan
1 entries- renga noun (fish in Clupea)
Vietnamese
1 entries- cá trích noun (fish in Clupea)
Volapük
2 entries- hareng noun (fish in Clupea)
- rün noun (fish in Clupea)
Walloon
3 entries- herin noun (fish in Clupea)
- inglitin noun (fish in Clupea)
- soret noun (fish in Clupea)
Welsh
2 entries- pennog noun (fish in Clupea)
- ysgadan noun (fish in Clupea)
West-Frisian
1 entries- hjerring noun (fish in Clupea)
Yiddish
1 entries- הערינג noun (fish in Clupea)
Sample sentences
11 total sentences available.
In order to distract the others, we brought up this irrelevant issue as a red herring.
Source: tatoeba (274128)
What she liked best was herring roe.
Source: tatoeba (308286)
Herring tastes good with potatoes.
Source: tatoeba (3129667)
Showing 4 of 11 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "herring"?
Closest matches include alewife, atlantic herring, clupea harangus, clupea harengus, common herring.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "herring"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.