But otter hunting is no "mug's game." Let it be known that it requires more than a few couple of hounds and a brace or so of terriers to kill an otter.
Source: tatoeba (729947)
Otter
/ˈɒt.ə/
Synonyms for "otter" (27 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (6)
Strong matches (8)
Related words (13)
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: animal, antelope, aquatic mammal, aquatic mustelid, armadillo.
- Sentence evidence is available for otter, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from derived_reverse, opengloss.
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 "otter".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "otter"
Keep "otter" 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 "otter" 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 "otter", 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 "otter" 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
7 entriesMore specific
7 entriesEnhydra lutris kenyoniEnhydra lutris nereisLontra canadensisLontra provocaxLutra lutrariver ottersea otter
Collocations
6 entriesotter cubotter habitatotter populationotter pupriver ottersea otter
Inflections
1 entriesDerivations
1 entriesTranslations
209 translations across 154 languages.
Abkhaz
1 entries- аԥслы noun (mammal)
Afrikaans
1 entries- otter noun (mammal)
Ainu
1 entries- エサマン noun (mammal)
Albanian
3 entries- lundër noun (mammal)
- lundërz noun (mammal)
- vidër noun (mammal)
Algonquin
1 entries- nigig noun (mammal)
Ancient Greek
1 entries- ἔνυδρις noun (mammal)
Arabic
2 entries- ثَعْلَب الْمَاء noun (mammal)
- قُضَاعَة noun (mammal)
Aragonese
3 entries- loira noun (mammal)
- luria noun (mammal)
- nuria noun (mammal)
Armenian
1 entries- ջրասամույր noun (mammal)
Aromanian
1 entries- vidrã noun (mammal)
Assamese
1 entries- উদ noun (mammal)
Asturian
2 entries- llóndriga noun (mammal)
- llóndrigu noun (mammal)
Azerbaijani
1 entries- çay samuru noun (mammal)
Bashkir
2 entries- ҡама noun (mammal)
- ҡамсат noun (mammal)
Basque
2 entries- igaraba noun (mammal)
- urtxakur noun (mammal)
Bau Bidayuh
1 entries- biron noun (mammal)
Belarusian
1 entries- вы́дра noun (mammal)
Bengali
1 entries- ভোঁদড় noun (mammal)
Breton
2 entries- dourgi noun (mammal)
- ki-dour noun (mammal)
Bulgarian
1 entries- ви́дра noun (mammal)
Burmese
1 entries- ဖျံ noun (mammal)
Carpathian Rusyn
1 entries- выдра noun (mammal)
Catalan
2 entries- llúdria noun (mammal)
- llúdriga noun (mammal)
Central Melanau
1 entries- dengen noun (mammal)
Central Nahuatl
1 entries- ahuitzotl noun (mammal)
Chepang
1 entries- तीःचोरो noun (mammal)
Cherokee
1 entries- ᏥᏯ noun (mammal)
Cheyenne
1 entries- náa'e noun (mammal)
Chinese Mandarin
1 entries- 水獺 /水獭 noun (mammal)
Chipewyan
1 entries- ną́bį noun (mammal)
Chukchi
2 entries- кыквэтвун noun (mammal)
- нэннэт noun (mammal)
Chuvash
1 entries- ӑтӑр noun (mammal)
Classical Nahuatl
1 entries- āhuitzōtl noun (mammal)
Coptic
1 entries- ⲟⲩϩⲟⲣ ⲙⲱⲟⲩ noun (mammal)
Czech
1 entries- vydra noun (mammal)
Danish
1 entries- odder noun (mammal)
Dutch
1 entries- otter noun (mammal)
Dzongkha
1 entries- སྲམ noun (mammal)
Eastern Khanty
1 entries- вӑнтәр noun (mammal)
Erzya
1 entries- пачалапа noun (mammal)
Esperanto
1 entries- lutro noun (mammal)
Estonian
1 entries- saarmas noun (mammal)
Faroese
1 entries- otur noun (mammal)
Finnish
1 entries- saukko noun (mammal)
French
1 entries- loutre noun (mammal)
Friulian
1 entries- lodre noun (mammal)
Galician
4 entries- londra noun (mammal)
- lontra noun (mammal)
- ludra noun (mammal)
- lóndrega noun (mammal)
Georgian
1 entries- წავი noun (mammal)
German
1 entries- Otter noun (mammal)
Greek
1 entries- βίδρα noun (mammal)
Halkomelem
1 entries- sq'á:tl' noun (mammal)
Hebrew
2 entries- כֶּלֶב נָהָר noun (mammal)
- לוּטְרָה noun (mammal)
Hindi
2 entries- ऊद noun (mammal)
- ऊदबिलाव noun (mammal)
Hungarian
1 entries- vidra noun (mammal)
Icelandic
1 entries- otur noun (mammal)
Ido
1 entries- lutro noun (mammal)
Indonesian
1 entries- berang-berang noun (mammal)
Irish
4 entries- cú dobhráin noun (mammal)
- dobharchú noun (mammal)
- dobhrán noun (mammal)
- madra uisce noun (mammal)
Italian
1 entries- lontra noun (mammal)
Japanese
4 entries- カワウソ noun (mammal)
- ラッコ noun (mammal)
- 川獺 noun (mammal)
- 海獺 noun (mammal)
Jingpho
1 entries- shäram noun (mammal)
Kashmiri
1 entries- وۄدُر noun (mammal)
Kazakh
2 entries- кәмшат noun (mammal)
- қамшат noun (mammal)
Khmer
1 entries- ភេ noun (mammal)
Komi-Zyrian
1 entries- вурд noun (mammal)
Korean
1 entries- 수달 noun (mammal)
Kyrgyz
1 entries- кундуз noun (mammal)
Ladin
1 entries- lontra noun (mammal)
Ladino
1 entries- lontra noun (mammal)
Lao
1 entries- ນາກ noun (mammal)
Latgalian
1 entries- iudrys noun (mammal)
Latin
1 entries- lutra noun (mammal)
Latvian
1 entries- ūdrs noun (mammal)
Laz
1 entries- წვინარი noun (mammal)
Lithuanian
1 entries- ūdra noun (mammal)
Low German
1 entries- Otter noun (mammal)
Lower Sorbian
1 entries- wudra noun (mammal)
Lun Bawang
1 entries- dengen noun (mammal)
Macedonian
1 entries- видра noun (mammal)
Malay
4 entries- anjing air noun (mammal)
- berang-berang noun (mammal)
- memerang noun (mammal)
- انجيڠ اءير noun (mammal)
Malayalam
1 entries- നീർനായ noun (mammal)
Maltese
1 entries- lontra noun (mammal)
Manchu
1 entries- ᡥᠠᡳᠯᡠᠨ noun (mammal)
Manx
2 entries- dooarchoo noun (mammal)
- moddey ushtey noun (mammal)
Marathi
1 entries- पाणमांजर noun (mammal)
Mi'kmaq
1 entries- giwnig noun (mammal)
Mingrelian
1 entries- წვინარი noun (mammal)
Mon
1 entries- ဖေံ noun (mammal)
Mongolian
2 entries- халиг noun (mammal)
- халиу noun (mammal)
Māori
1 entries- ōtā noun (mammal)
Navajo
1 entries- tábąąstíín noun (mammal)
Nepali
2 entries- उद्र noun (mammal)
- ओत noun (mammal)
Northern Sami
1 entries- čeavrris noun (mammal)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- oter noun (mammal)
Norwegian Nynorsk
1 entries- oter noun (mammal)
Occitan
1 entries- loira noun (mammal)
Odia
1 entries- ଓଧ noun (mammal)
Old Armenian
1 entries- շնջրի noun (mammal)
Old East Slavic
1 entries- вꙑдра noun (mammal)
Old English
1 entries- otor noun (mammal)
Old Irish
1 entries- doburchú noun (mammal)
Ottoman Turkish
1 entries- صو سموری noun (mammal)
Pannonian Rusyn
1 entries- видра noun (mammal)
Persian
1 entries- سمور آبی noun (mammal)
Pipil
1 entries- ākuyūt noun (mammal)
Pirahã
1 entries- pibaóí noun (mammal)
Polish
1 entries- wydra noun (mammal)
Portuguese
1 entries- lontra noun (mammal)
Romanian
2 entries- lutră noun (mammal)
- vidră noun (mammal)
Romansch
2 entries- ludra noun (mammal)
- lutra noun (mammal)
Russian
1 entries- вы́дра noun (mammal)
Sanskrit
1 entries- उद्र noun (mammal)
Santali
2 entries- ᱚᱫᱟᱢ noun (mammal)
- ᱩᱫᱟᱢ noun (mammal)
Saraiki
1 entries- اُدڑ noun (mammal)
Sardinian
1 entries- lontra noun (mammal)
Scottish Gaelic
4 entries- biast-donn (Islay) noun (mammal)
- biast-dubh noun (mammal)
- cù-donn noun (mammal)
- dobhar-chù noun (mammal)
Serbo-Croatian
2 entries- vȉdra noun (mammal)
- ви̏дра noun (mammal)
Siberian Tatar
1 entries- ҡамнау noun (mammal)
Sicilian
1 entries- lutra noun (mammal)
Slovak
1 entries- vydra noun (mammal)
Slovene
1 entries- vidra noun (mammal)
Southern Altai
1 entries- камду noun (mammal)
Southern Sami
1 entries- tjeavra noun (mammal)
Spanish
4 entries- ludria noun (mammal)
- lutria noun (mammal)
- nutra noun (mammal)
- nutria noun (mammal)
Sranan Tongo
1 entries- watradagu noun (mammal)
Sundanese
1 entries- séro noun (mammal)
Svan
1 entries- წიუ̂ე̄რ noun (mammal)
Swahili
1 entries- ota noun (mammal)
Swedish
1 entries- utter noun (mammal)
Tagal Murut
1 entries- tilung noun (mammal)
Tagalog
1 entries- dungon noun (mammal)
Tajik
3 entries- саги обӣ noun (mammal)
- сагобӣ noun (mammal)
- самури обӣ noun (mammal)
Tamil
1 entries- நீர்நாய் noun (mammal)
Telugu
4 entries- ఉద్రము noun (mammal)
- నీటి కుక్క noun (mammal)
- నీరుకుక్క noun (mammal)
- నీరుపిల్లి noun (mammal)
Thai
1 entries- นาก noun (mammal)
Tigrinya
1 entries- ጣቑስታ noun (mammal)
Turkish
2 entries- lutr noun (mammal)
- su samuru noun (mammal)
Turkmen
1 entries- gunduz noun (mammal)
Udmurt
2 entries- вад noun (mammal)
- вудор noun (mammal)
Ukrainian
1 entries- ви́дра noun (mammal)
Upper Sorbian
1 entries- wudra noun (mammal)
Urdu
1 entries- اودبلاؤ noun (mammal)
Uyghur
2 entries- قاما noun (mammal)
- قۇندۇز noun (mammal)
Uzbek
1 entries- qunduz noun (mammal)
Venetan
2 entries- lodra noun (mammal)
- lùdria noun (mammal)
Vietnamese
2 entries- rái noun (mammal)
- rái cá noun (mammal)
Volapük
1 entries- lutar noun (mammal)
Walloon
1 entries- lote noun (mammal)
Welsh
2 entries- dwrgi noun (mammal)
- dyfrgi noun (mammal)
West Coast Bajau
2 entries- dongor noun (mammal)
- embirud noun (mammal)
West-Frisian
1 entries- fiskotter noun (mammal)
Yiddish
1 entries- ווידרע noun (mammal)
Yámana
1 entries- éepux noun (mammal)
Zhuang
1 entries- nag noun (mammal)
Sample sentences
12 total sentences available.
Even if a hedgehog, a mole, an otter, a rabbit or an opossum looks like a rodent, it isn't.
Source: tatoeba (1943606)
The otter was playing in the river.
Source: tatoeba (5977814)
The air trapped in the fur of a sea otter helps it to float.
Source: tatoeba (6331088)
Showing 4 of 12 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "otter"?
Closest matches include animal, antelope, aquatic mammal, aquatic mustelid, armadillo.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "otter"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.