jewfish

noun

jew·​fish ˈjü-ˌfish How to pronounce jewfish (audio)
1
offensive : goliath grouper

Note: The American Fisheries Society and Committee on Names of Fishes officially renamed this fish the goliath grouper in 2001 due to the offensiveness of the historical name.

2
chiefly Australia : any of several chiefly Australian perch (such as Johnius australis and Glaucosoma hebraicum) of coastal waters
especially : mulloway
3
chiefly Australia : a freshwater catfish (Tandanus tandanus) of eastern Australian rivers

Examples of jewfish in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web About 20 years ago, a committee of fish experts renamed the jewfish into the goliath grouper. Seth Borenstein, Star Tribune, 9 July 2021 Once called the jewfish, a name considered a bit insensitive for modern times, the goliath grouper suffered severe declines through the 20th century. David Fleshler, sun-sentinel.com, 24 Apr. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'jewfish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1679, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of jewfish was in 1679

Dictionary Entries Near jewfish

Cite this Entry

“Jewfish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jewfish. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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