fishes

/ˈfɪʃɪz/

//ˈfɪʃɪz// noun

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

"fishes" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“fishes” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #16,710. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#16,710
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
17
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - plural of fish

Corpus desk

Index EN-fishes · fishes · English

fishes · rank #16,710 · 9 variants · 17 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #16,710
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 17 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH filler

Nearest frequency peer: filler (-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 “fishes”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “fishes” 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).

fishes vs fixes
67% similar
fishes vs fists
67% similar
fishes vs fishy
67% similar

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

Key facts for fishes
PropertyValue
Headwordfishes
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈfɪʃɪz/
Letters6
Frequency rank#16,710
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs17
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “fishes”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).fisheslands 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 “filler” (#16,709), “flea” (#16,711), “fertilizer” (#16,708). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “fishes” is #16,710. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around fishes (IPA /ˈfɪʃɪz/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #16,710 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for fishes, with forms such as "ffishes", "fihses", and "fisehs". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 17 confusable-pair relationships, "fixes", "fists", "fishy", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is fishes, spelled F-I-S-H-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    plural of fish
  2. 2
    plural of fish

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Coral bleaching threatens to disrupt the population equilibria of the reef’s fishes.
  2. I get eaten by the worms / And weird fishes / Picked over by the worms / And weird fishes / Weird fishes

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ffishes
  • fihses
  • fisehs
  • fishess
  • fishhes
  • fishse
  • fisshes
  • fsihes
  • ifshes

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fishes - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ffishes1fihses2fisehs2fishess1fishhes1fishse2fisshes1fsihes2
Edit distance from "fishes"

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 "fishes"?
"fishes" is spelled F-I-S-H-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfɪʃɪz/.
What does "fishes" mean?
As a noun, "fishes" means: plural of fish
What words are commonly confused with "fishes"?
"fishes" is commonly confused with "fixes", "fists", "fishy". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "fishes"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fishes" is /ˈfɪʃɪz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "fishes" come from?
"fishes" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "fishes", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

filler#16,709facade#16,706frying#16,717helium#16,725

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

Giovanni9 variantsdivert9 variantsdecker9 variantslavish9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list