catfish

/ˈkætfɪʃ/

//ˈkætfɪʃ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"catfish" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“catfish” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #18,266. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#18,266
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any fish of the order Siluriformes, mainly found in fresh water, lacking scales, and having barbels like whiskers around the mouth.

Corpus desk

Index EN-catfish · catfish · English

catfish · rank #18,266 · 11 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #18,266
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Catalonia

Nearest frequency peer: Catalonia (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “catfish”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “catfish” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

catfish vs crayfish
75% similar
catfish vs crawfish
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for catfish
PropertyValue
Headwordcatfish
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkætfɪʃ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#18,266
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “catfish”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).catfishlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “Catalonia” (#18,265), “Caucasus” (#18,267), “casing” (#18,263). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “catfish” is #18,266. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around catfish (IPA /ˈkætfɪʃ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #18,266 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for catfish, with forms such as "actfish", "caftish", and "catffish". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "crayfish", "crawfish", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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”). The correct English form is catfish, spelled C-A-T-F-I-S-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any fish of the order Siluriformes, mainly found in fresh water, lacking scales, and having barbels like whiskers around the mouth.
  2. 2
    The meat of such a fish, popular in the Southern U.S. and Central Europe.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how catfish appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. “You don’t see catfish that big anymore, except in Chernobyl […] Nobody fishes there anymore, so the catfish thrive. They’ve gotten really enormous, some even twelve or thirteen feet long. They’re bottom-feeders, and apparently the mud still contains a lot of radioactive particles, but the catfish don’t seem to mind.”

Etymology

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”).

This word in other languages

bagre(Español)poisson-chat(Français)Wels(Deutsch)bagre(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • actfish
  • caftish
  • catffish
  • catfihs
  • catfishh
  • catfissh
  • catfsih
  • catifsh
  • cattfish
  • ccatfish
  • ctafish

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of catfish - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

actfish2caftish2catffish1catfihs2catfishh1catfissh1catfsih2catifsh2
Edit distance from "catfish"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "catfish"?
"catfish" is spelled C-A-T-F-I-S-H. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkætfɪʃ/.
What does "catfish" mean?
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.
What words are commonly confused with "catfish"?
"catfish" is commonly confused with "crayfish", "crawfish". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "catfish"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "catfish" is /ˈkætfɪʃ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "catfish"?
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”). 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "catfish", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

collage#18,271burying#18,259breeder#18,258blowjob#18,250

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

Caucasus11 variantsbesieged11 variantsagitated11 variantsescalate11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list