starfish

noun

star·​fish ˈstär-ˌfish 

: any of a class (Asteroidea) of echinoderms that have a body of usually five arms radially arranged about a central disk and feed largely on mollusks (such as oysters)

called also sea star

Examples of starfish in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

When scientists revisited the site more than 40 years later, the scars were still sharply visible, and the disturbed areas remained largely devoid of the sponges, corals, and starfish that had once lived there. —Ingmar Rentzhog, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025

The disease causes starfish to disintegrate into a white, slimy substance. —Madison E. Goldberg, People.com, 7 Aug. 2025

Lebanese American artist Nabil Nahas, known for his vivid textured paintings of fractal, geometric patterns incorporating organic elements such as seashells and starfish, has been chosen to represent Lebanon at the Sixty-First Venice Biennale, to take place May 9–November 22, 2026. —News Desk, Artforum, 4 June 2025

About 500 million years ago, an ancestor of starfish only possessed two symmetrical arms. —Jack Knudson, Discover Magazine, 26 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1538, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for starfish

• bluefish
• catfish
• codfish
• crawfish
• dogfish
• finfish
• flatfish
• goldfish
• groundfish
• kingfish
• offish
• redfish

Kids Definition

starfish

noun

star·​fish ˈstär-ˌfish 

: any of a class of echinoderms that have five arms arranged evenly around a central disk and feed largely on mollusks (as oysters)