pufferfish
/ˈpʌfɚˌfɪʃ/
"pufferfish" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pufferfish” is an uncommon English word, ranked #97,464 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #97,464
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any species of fish of the family Tetraodontidae that have the ability to inflate themselves to a globe several times their normal size by swallowing water or air when threatened; puffer, blowfish,...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pufferfish |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpʌfɚˌfɪʃ/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #97,464 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “pufferfish” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for pufferfish is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpʌfɚˌfɪʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #97,464 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for pufferfish in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From puffer + fish. The correct English form is pufferfish, spelled P-U-F-F-E-R-F-I-S-H.
Definition
- 1Any species of fish of the family Tetraodontidae that have the ability to inflate themselves to a globe several times their normal size by swallowing water or air when threatened; puffer, blowfish, swellfish, balloonfish, globefish.
- 2The meat of these fish, a delicacy popular in Japan served raw as sushi that may, if improperly prepared, contain deadly levels of neurotoxins; (Japanese) fugu.
Etymology
From puffer + fish.
This word in other languages
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
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Using “pufferfish”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-U-F-F-E-R-F-I-S-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpʌfɚˌfɪʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.