catfish
/ˈkætfɪʃ/noun, verb
catfish is spelled C-A-T-F-I-S-H: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,297th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, catfish means “Any fish of the order Siluriformes, mainly found in fresh water, lacking scales, and having barbels like whiskers around the mouth” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of catfish is catfishes.
How many letters and syllables are in catfish?
| Letters | 7: C-A-T-F-I-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.2 times per million words; the 18,297th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is catfish?
Catfish appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,297th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce catfish?
- /ˈkætfɪʃ/
- [ˈkʰæt̚fɪʃ]
Catfish has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-catfish.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of catfish
- catfishes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- catfishing participle, present
- catfished participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does catfish mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any fish of the order Siluriformes, mainly found in fresh water, lacking scales, and having barbels like whiskers around the mouth.
- 2
The meat of such a fish, popular in the Southern U.S. and Central Europe.
- 3
Someone who creates a false profile on a social media platform in order to deceive people.
- 4
Such a false profile.
verb
- 1
To fish for catfish.
I only use this rod for catfishing.
- 2
slangTo create and operate a fake online profile to deceive (someone).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate catfish?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of catfish: cat.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Catfish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense type of fish – see also sheatfish:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | poisson-chat, silure |
| German | Wels, Katzenwels |
| Portuguese | peixe-gato, bagre |
| Spanish | bagre, siluro, barbo, pez gato, filín, juilín |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does catfish come from?
From cat + fish. Likely so named for its prominent barbels like a cat's whiskers. Compare West Frisian katfisk (“catfish”), Dutch katvis (“catfish”). Compare also German Seekatze (“catfish”, literally “sea-cat”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).