kingfish

noun

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

"kingfish" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“kingfish” is uncommon English (frequency #82,456 among 9,255 “K” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#82,456
frequency rank, English
9,255
“K” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of several food fishes of the genus Menticirrhus from the Atlantic; kingcroakers.

Corpus desk

Index EN-kingfish · kingfish · English

kingfish · rank #82,456 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #82,456
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 9,255
  • PHOTO-FINISH kingwood

Nearest frequency peer: kingwood (+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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “kingfish”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “kingfish” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of May 6, 2026
Key facts for kingfish
PropertyValue
Headwordkingfish
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Frequency rank#82,456
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “kingfish” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). kingfish lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

kingfish is uncommon English at frequency #82,456 among 9,255 “K” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 12 senses are on record.

kingfish has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From king + fish. The correct English form is kingfish, spelled K-I-N-G-F-I-S-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of several food fishes of the genus Menticirrhus from the Atlantic; kingcroakers.
  2. 2
    Other Atlantic fish
  3. 3
    Other Atlantic fish
  4. 4
    Other Atlantic fish
  5. 5
    Other Atlantic fish
  6. 6
    Any of several similar fishes of the Pacific.
  7. 7
    Any of several similar fishes of the Pacific.
  8. 8
    Any of several similar fishes of the Pacific.
  9. 9
    Any of several similar fishes of the Pacific.
  10. 10
    Fish of genus Caranx
  11. 11
    Fish of genus Caranx
  12. 12
    Cobia (Rachycentron canadum), of warm waters globally.

Etymology

From king + fish.

This word in other languages

martin-pêcheur(Français)

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "kingfish"?
"kingfish" is spelled K-I-N-G-F-I-S-H.
What does "kingfish" mean?
As a noun, "kingfish" means: Any of several food fishes of the genus Menticirrhus from the Atlantic; kingcroakers.
What is the origin of the word "kingfish"?
From king + fish. 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 "kingfish", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

kingwood#82,457kerchief#82,450Kerberos#82,449knotting#82,465
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list