angelfish

noun

"angelfish" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“angelfish” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of the genus Pterophyllum of freshwater, tropical cichlids.

Corpus desk

Index EN-angelfish · angelfish · English

angelfish · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "A" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for angelfish
PropertyValue
Headwordangelfish
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “angelfish” in English

angelfishfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

angelfish is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.

angelfish has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From angel + fish; so called for its wing-like pectoral fins. The correct English form is angelfish, spelled A-N-G-E-L-F-I-S-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of the genus Pterophyllum of freshwater, tropical cichlids.
  2. 2
    Any marine fish of the family Pomacanthidae, common on shallow tropical reefs.
  3. 3
    Atlantic pomfret (Brama brama).
  4. 4
    Angelshark, of the family Squatinidae.
  5. 5
    Atlantic spadefish (Chaetodipterus faber).
  6. 6
    cave angelfish, a karst-dwelling member of the family Balitoridae, found only in Thailand.

Etymology

From angel + fish; so called for its wing-like pectoral fins.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "angelfish"?
"angelfish" is spelled A-N-G-E-L-F-I-S-H.
What does "angelfish" mean?
As a noun, "angelfish" means: Any of the genus Pterophyllum of freshwater, tropical cichlids.
What is the origin of the word "angelfish"?
From angel + fish; so called for its wing-like pectoral fins. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list