triggerfish
trig·ger·fish/ˈtɹɪ.ɡəɹˌfɪʃ/noun
triggerfish is spelled T-R-I-G-G-E-R-F-I-S-H: 11 letters and 3 syllables (trig·ger·fish). It appears about once in every 23 million words in written English, the 145,125th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, triggerfish means “Any of several brightly coloured fish, of the family Balistidae, that inhabit tropical reefs and have an erectile spine on the dorsal fin” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of triggerfish is triggerfishes.
How many letters and syllables are in triggerfish?
| Letters | 11: T-R-I-G-G-E-R-F-I-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: trig·ger·fish |
| In writing | about once in every 23 million words; the 145,125th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is triggerfish?
Triggerfish appears about once in every 23 million words in written English, the 145,125th 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 triggerfish?
- UK /ˈtɹɪ.ɡəˌfɪʃ/
- US /ˈtɹɪ.ɡəɹˌfɪʃ/
Triggerfish has 3 syllables, split trig·ger·fish in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-triggerfish.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of triggerfish
- triggerfishes plural
- trigger-fish
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does triggerfish mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of several brightly coloured fish, of the family Balistidae, that inhabit tropical reefs and have an erectile spine on the dorsal fin.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Triggerfish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense any of several fish:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | baliste |
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 triggerfish come from?
From trigger + fish. First attested in the 1840s.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).