fugu
/ˈfuː.ɡuː/
"fugu" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fugu” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 4
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Blowfish: a delicacy popular in Japan served raw as sushi that may, if improperly prepared, contain deadly levels of neurotoxins.
Corpus desk
Index EN-fugu · fugu · English
fugu · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "F" 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fugu |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfuː.ɡuː/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “fugu” in English
Rare enough to double-check
fugu is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈfuː.ɡuː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Blowfish: a delicacy popular in Japan served raw as sushi that may, if improperly prepared, contain deadly levels of neurotoxins.".
No misspelling variants are generated for fugu in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Japanese 河豚(ふぐ) (fugu, “blowfish”). The correct English form is fugu, spelled F-U-G-U.
Definition
- 1Blowfish: a delicacy popular in Japan served raw as sushi that may, if improperly prepared, contain deadly levels of neurotoxins.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how fugu appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Twenty minutes later, the chef has successfully prepared a whole fugu—or puffer fish—a Japanese delicacy whose capacity to maim and kill is dividing the country’s culinary world.
A sluggish swimmer, fugu has stunted fins and often flat-lying spikes instead of scales, and when confronted by predators it compensates for its lack of speed by swallowing enough water to swell up until its spikes stand on end, so it looks like an angry armored balloon.
Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese 河豚(ふぐ) (fugu, “blowfish”).
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.