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PlainSpell

shark

/ʃɑɹk/noun, verb

shark is spelled S-H-A-R-K: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 6,047th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, shark means “Any predatory fish of the superorder Selachimorpha, with a cartilaginous skeleton and 5 to 7 gill slits on each side of its head” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of shark is sharks.

How many letters and syllables are in shark?

Letters5: S-H-A-R-K
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing13 times per million words; the 6,047th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is shark?

Shark appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 6,047th 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 shark?

  • UK /ʃɑːk/
  • US /ʃɑɹk/

Shark has one syllable (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: En-us-shark.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with shark?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as shark from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹk/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of shark

  • sharks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • sharking participle, present
  • sharked participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does shark mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Any predatory fish of the superorder Selachimorpha, with a cartilaginous skeleton and 5 to 7 gill slits on each side of its head.

    The straunge fishe is in length xvij. foote and iij. foote broad, and in compas about the bodie vj. foote; and is round snowted, short headdid, hauing iij. rankes of teeth on either iawe, …. Also it hath v. gills of eache side of the head,

  2. 2

    Meat of this animal, consumed as food.

  3. 3

    Any fish of the class Chondrichthyes, especially an extinct shark-like holocephalian.

  4. 4

    Any fish in the genus Epalzeorhynchos.

  5. 5

    Any fish in the genus Balantiocheilos.

  6. 6

    An iridescent shark (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus).

  7. 7

    A roseline shark (Dawkinsia denisonii).

  8. 8

    A paroon shark (Pangasius sanitwongsei).

  9. 9

    Someone who exploits others, for example by trickery, lies, usury, extortion.

  10. 10

    derogatoryinformalA sleazy and amoral lawyer.

  11. 11

    derogatoryinformalAn ambulance chaser.

  12. 12

    informalA relentless and resolute person or group, especially in business.

  13. 13

    A person that excels in a particular field.

  14. 14

    informalproscribedA very good poker or pool player. Compare fish (a bad poker player).

  15. 15

    A person who feigns ineptitude to win money from others.

verb

  1. 1

    rareTo fish for sharks.

  2. 2

    UKderogatoryTo engage in sexual activity with a fresher.

  3. 3

    UKderogatoryTo cruise for casual sex with a fresher at a bar or club.

  4. 4

    obsoleteTo steal or obtain through fraud.

    Shakespeare and others, Sir Thomas More (c. 1593) act 2, sc. 4: "Other ruffians...Would shark on you."

  5. 5

    obsoleteTo play the petty thief; to practice fraud or trickery; to swindle.

  6. 6

    obsoleteTo live by shifts and stratagems.

  7. 7

    obsoleteTo pick or gather indiscriminately or covertly.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Shark in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

In the sense fish:

LanguageWords
Frenchrequin, squale
GermanHai, Haifisch
Portuguesetubarão, cação, escalho, escalo
Spanishtiburón, escualo

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 shark come from?

From Middle English shark (used by Thomas Beckington in 1442 to refer to a kind of fish), of uncertain origin. Most likely from a semantic extension of the German-derived shark (“scoundrel”), see below. The fish was originally called a dogfish or haye in English and Middle English. Its name in Old English is unknown, although some uses of the word hranfisċ that do not appear to carry the sense of "whale" may have been referencing it.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after shark