hagfish
/ˈhæɡˌfɪʃ/noun
hagfish is spelled H-A-G-F-I-S-H: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 133,440th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hagfish means “Any of the primitive eellike fish, of the family Myxinidae, having a sucking mouth with rasping teeth, and sometimes used as food or for eelskin…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hagfish is hagfishes.
How many letters and syllables are in hagfish?
| Letters | 7: H-A-G-F-I-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 19 million words; the 133,440th 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 hagfish?
Hagfish appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 133,440th 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 hagfish?
- /ˈhæɡˌfɪʃ/
Hagfish 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-hagfish.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hagfish
- hagfishes plural
- hag fish
- hag-fish
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hagfish mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of the primitive eellike fish, of the family Myxinidae, having a sucking mouth with rasping teeth, and sometimes used as food or for eelskin leather.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hagfish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense eellike fish of the family Myxinidae:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | myxine |
| German | Schleimaal, Inger |
| Portuguese | mixina, peixe-bruxa, feiticeira |
| Spanish | mixino, pez-bruja |
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 hagfish come from?
From hag + fish.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).