A squid has ten arms.
Source: tatoeba (66640)
Squid
/skwɪd/
Synonyms for "squid" (28 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: calamari, bait, calamary, cephalopod, cobweb.
- Sentence evidence is available for squid, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from wordnet, opengloss, derived_reverse.
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 "squid".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "squid"
Keep "squid" 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 "squid" 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 "squid", 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 "squid" 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
3 entriesMore specific
7 entriesHumboldt squidcalamari ringscolossal squidfire squidfried calamarigiant squidgrilled squid
Collocations
6 entriesInflections
1 entriesDerivations
2 entriesTranslations
163 translations across 111 languages.
Afrikaans
1 entries- pylinkvis noun (sea animal)
Ainu
3 entries- エペッペッケ noun (sea animal)
- パㇱサンナ noun (sea animal)
- マシタンペ noun (sea animal)
Albanian
1 entries- kallamar noun (sea animal)
Ancient Greek
1 entries- τευθίς noun (sea animal)
Arabic
4 entries- توتيا noun (sea animal)
- حَبَّار noun (sea animal)
- حَبَّار noun (sea animal)
- سبيط noun (sea animal)
Armenian
1 entries- կաղամար noun (sea animal)
Azerbaijani
1 entries- kalmar noun (sea animal)
Basque
2 entries- txibia noun (sea animal)
- txipiroi noun (sea animal)
Bau Bidayuh
1 entries- sutung noun (sea animal)
Belarusian
1 entries- кальма́р noun (sea animal)
Bengali
1 entries- স্কুইড noun (sea animal)
Brunei Malay
1 entries- sutung noun (sea animal)
Bulgarian
1 entries- калма́р noun (sea animal)
Burmese
1 entries- ပြည်ကြီးငါး noun (sea animal)
Catalan
2 entries- calamar noun (sea animal)
- calamars noun (sea animal)
Cherokee
1 entries- ᏍᏈᏗ noun (sea animal)
Chinese
2 entries- 魷魚 /鱿鱼 noun (sea animal)
- 鰇魚 /𬶧鱼 noun (sea animal)
Chinese Cantonese
1 entries- 魷魚 /鱿鱼 noun (sea animal)
Chinese Mandarin
2 entries- 烏賊 /乌贼 noun (sea animal)
- 魷魚 /鱿鱼 noun (sea animal)
Cornish
1 entries- stifek noun (sea animal)
Czech
1 entries- krakatice noun (sea animal)
Danish
1 entries- blæksprutte noun (sea animal)
Dutch
1 entries- inktvis noun (sea animal)
Esperanto
1 entries- kalmaro noun (sea animal)
Estonian
1 entries- kalmaar noun (sea animal)
Faroese
1 entries- høgguslokkur noun (sea animal)
Fijian
1 entries- sulua noun (sea animal)
Finnish
2 entries- kalmari noun (sea animal)
- mustekala noun (sea animal)
French
3 entries- calmar noun (sea animal)
- encornet noun (sea animal)
- seiche noun (sea animal)
Galician
1 entries- lura noun (sea animal)
Georgian
1 entries- მელანთევზი noun (sea animal)
German
2 entries- Kalmar noun (sea animal)
- Tintenfisch noun (sea animal)
Greek
1 entries- καλαμάρι noun (sea animal)
Greenlandic
1 entries- amikoq noun (sea animal)
Gujarati
1 entries- સ્ક્વિડ noun (sea animal)
Hawaiian
2 entries- heʻe noun (sea animal)
- mūheʻe noun (sea animal)
Hebrew
1 entries- דְּיוֹנוּן noun (sea animal)
Hindi
2 entries- विद्रूप noun (sea animal)
- स्क्विड noun (sea animal)
Hungarian
3 entries- kalmár noun (sea animal)
- szépia noun (sea animal)
- tintahal noun (sea animal)
Icelandic
2 entries- smokkfiskur noun (sea animal)
- smokkur noun (sea animal)
Ido
1 entries- kalmaro noun (sea animal)
Indonesian
3 entries- cumi-cumi noun (sea animal)
- ikan sotong noun (sea animal)
- nus noun (sea animal)
Interlingua
1 entries- calamar noun (sea animal)
Irish
2 entries- máthair shúigh noun (sea animal)
- scuid noun (sea animal)
Italian
1 entries- calamaro noun (sea animal)
Japanese
4 entries- イカ noun (sea animal)
- 柔魚 noun (sea animal)
- 烏賊 noun (sea animal)
- 鰞 noun (sea animal)
Javanese
1 entries- iwak nus noun (sea animal)
Kannada
1 entries- ಸ್ಕ್ವಿಡ್ noun (sea animal)
Kazakh
1 entries- кальмар noun (sea animal)
Khmer
3 entries- ត្រីមឹក noun (sea animal)
- មឹក noun (sea animal)
- យៀវហ៊ឺ noun (sea animal)
Korean
1 entries- 오징어 noun (sea animal)
Kyrgyz
1 entries- кальмар noun (sea animal)
Lao
2 entries- ປາອີ່ຮື noun (sea animal)
- ຫມຶກ noun (sea animal)
Latin
1 entries- lōlīgō noun (sea animal)
Latvian
1 entries- kalmārs noun (sea animal)
Lithuanian
1 entries- kalmaras noun (sea animal)
Macedonian
1 entries- ли́гна noun (sea animal)
Malay
1 entries- sotong noun (sea animal)
Malayalam
1 entries- കൂന്തൾ noun (sea animal)
Maltese
1 entries- klamar noun (sea animal)
Manx
3 entries- dyachlym noun (sea animal)
- peie vreinn noun (sea animal)
- squid noun (sea animal)
Marathi
1 entries- स्क्विड noun (sea animal)
Mi'kmaq
1 entries- seta'su noun (sea animal)
Māori
2 entries- ngū noun (sea animal)
- wheke noun (sea animal)
Navajo
2 entries- łóóʼ bigaan neeznání noun (sea animal)
- łóóʼ bigaan neeznání íiyisígíí noun (sea animal)
Nepali
1 entries- स्क्विड noun (sea animal)
Norman
1 entries- cônet noun (sea animal)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- akkar noun (sea animal)
Old English
1 entries- cudele noun (sea animal)
Orok
1 entries- askuttu noun (sea animal)
Persian
2 entries- انکاس noun (sea animal)
- ماهی مرکب noun (sea animal)
Polish
2 entries- kalmar noun (sea animal)
- kałamarnica noun (sea animal)
Portuguese
1 entries- lula noun (sea animal)
Quechua
1 entries- samanna noun (sea animal)
Romanian
2 entries- calamar noun (sea animal)
- calmar noun (sea animal)
Russian
1 entries- кальма́р noun (sea animal)
Sambali
1 entries- posit noun (sea animal)
Samoan
2 entries- fe'e noun (sea animal)
- gūfe'e noun (sea animal)
Sassarese
1 entries- tòtanu noun (sea animal)
Scottish Gaelic
4 entries- gibeanach noun (sea animal)
- gibearnach noun (sea animal)
- gubarnach noun (sea animal)
- iasg-cutail noun (sea animal)
Serbo-Croatian
2 entries- lȉgnja noun (sea animal)
- ли̏гња noun (sea animal)
Sinhalese
1 entries- දැල්ලා noun (sea animal)
Slovak
1 entries- kalmar noun (sea animal)
Slovene
1 entries- lígenj noun (sea animal)
Spanish
3 entries- calamar noun (sea animal)
- chipirón noun (sea animal)
- jibión noun (sea animal)
Sundanese
1 entries- cumi-cumi noun (sea animal)
Swahili
1 entries- pweza noun (sea animal)
Swedish
1 entries- bläckfisk noun (sea animal)
Tagalog
1 entries- pusit noun (sea animal)
Tahitian
1 entries- fee noun (sea animal)
Tajik
1 entries- калмар noun (sea animal)
Tamil
1 entries- கணவாய் noun (sea animal)
Telugu
1 entries- స్క్విడ్ noun (sea animal)
Thai
2 entries- ปลาหมึก noun (sea animal)
- หมึก noun (sea animal)
Tigrinya
1 entries- ኣቡ ቐለም noun (sea animal)
Tok Pisin
1 entries- urita noun (sea animal)
Tongan
1 entries- 'atalava noun (sea animal)
Tunisian Arabic
4 entries- سوبيا noun (sea animal)
- سوبية noun (sea animal)
- سيبيا noun (sea animal)
- شوابي noun (sea animal)
Turkish
2 entries- kalamar noun (sea animal)
- mürekkep balığı noun (sea animal)
Turkmen
1 entries- kalmar noun (sea animal)
Ukrainian
1 entries- кальма́р noun (sea animal)
Urdu
2 entries- سکویڈ noun (sea animal)
- قیر ماہی noun (sea animal)
Uyghur
1 entries- كالمار noun (sea animal)
Uzbek
1 entries- kalmar noun (sea animal)
Vietnamese
1 entries- mực ống noun (sea animal)
Waray-Waray
1 entries- nuos noun (sea animal)
Welsh
4 entries- môr-lawes noun (sea animal)
- pibwr inc noun (sea animal)
- twyllwr du noun (sea animal)
- ystifflog noun (sea animal)
Wu Chinese
1 entries- 魷魚 /鱿鱼 noun (sea animal)
Yiddish
1 entries- טינטפֿיש noun (sea animal)
Zazaki
1 entries- kalamar noun (sea animal)
Zhuang
1 entries- byayouzyiz noun (sea animal)
Sample sentences
14 total sentences available.
Christopher Columbus's "The Idiot's Guide to Killing a Shark Barehanded" and "The Twenty Ways to Strangle a Giant Squid" both went on to become bestsellers.
Source: tatoeba (564007)
A squid has ten legs.
Source: tatoeba (569669)
Arroz negro tastes inky because it's made with squid ink.
Source: tatoeba (718015)
Showing 4 of 14 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "squid"?
Closest matches include calamari, bait, calamary, cephalopod, cobweb.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "squid"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.