spearfish

noun

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

"spearfish" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“spearfish” is uncommon English (frequency #99,886 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#99,886
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of the genus Tetrapturus of marlins, a type of fish with the upper jaw elongated into a spearlike bill.

Corpus desk

Index EN-spearfish · spearfish · English

spearfish · rank #99,886 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #99,886
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Sommerfeld

Nearest frequency peer: Sommerfeld (-2 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.

Long-tail ranks near “spearfish”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “spearfish” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for spearfish
PropertyValue
Headwordspearfish
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Frequency rank#99,886
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “spearfish” in English

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

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “Sommerfeld” (#99,884), “soldiery” (#99,882), “spiker” (#99,890). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “spearfish” is #99,886. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

spearfish is uncommon English at frequency #99,886 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

spearfish has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From spear + fish. The correct English form is spearfish, spelled S-P-E-A-R-F-I-S-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of the genus Tetrapturus of marlins, a type of fish with the upper jaw elongated into a spearlike bill.
  2. 2
    Any striped marlin (Kajikia audax)
  3. 3
    Any quillback (Carpioides cyprinus

Etymology

From spear + fish.

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

How do you spell "spearfish"?
"spearfish" is spelled S-P-E-A-R-F-I-S-H.
What does "spearfish" mean?
As a noun, "spearfish" means: Any of the genus Tetrapturus of marlins, a type of fish with the upper jaw elongated into a spearlike bill.
What is the origin of the word "spearfish"?
From spear + 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 "spearfish", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Steadicam#99,898straggler#99,903sidetrack#99,860supermoon#99,912

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list