guppy
/ˈɡʌpi/noun
guppy is spelled G-U-P-P-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 53,573rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, guppy means “A species of tiny freshwater fish, Poecilia reticulata, popular in home aquariums, that usually has a plain body and black or dark blue tail for the…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of guppy is guppies.
How many letters and syllables are in guppy?
| Letters | 5: G-U-P-P-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 53,573rd 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 guppy?
Guppy appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 53,573rd 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 guppy?
- /ˈɡʌpi/
Guppy 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-guppy.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of guppy
- guppies plural
- obsolete taxonomic names
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does guppy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A species of tiny freshwater fish, Poecilia reticulata, popular in home aquariums, that usually has a plain body and black or dark blue tail for the females and a more colorful tail for the males. The guppies can vary in size, but males are 4 cm (1.6”) and females are 7 cm (2.8”).
Fred kept a tank of guppies by the windowsill.
- 2
Any tiny fish.
Throw that one back; it’s just a guppy!
- 3
A tube holding paintballs before they are loaded into the gun.
- 4
A hold across the palm of the hand rather than the fingertips.
- 5
Acanthocephalus guppii
- 6
Acanthocephalus reticulatus
- 7
Girardinus guppii
- 8
Girardinus petersi
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Guppy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Poecilia reticulata:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | guppy |
| Portuguese | guppy, lebiste, barrigudinho |
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 guppy come from?
From a name mistakenly assigned, Girardinus guppii, after biologist Robert J. L. Guppy, to previously assigned Poecilia reticulata.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).