weakfish

noun

weak·​fish ˈwēk-ˌfish 

1

: a common marine bony fish (Cynoscion regalis of the family Sciaenidae) of the eastern coast of the U.S. that is an important sport and food fish

called also sea trout

2

: any of several fishes congeneric with the weakfish

Examples of weakfish in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Shrimp put a hurt on fluke, weakfish, and even schoolie-sized striped bass. — Joe Cermele, Outdoor Life, 6 May 2026

Otherwise, its list of seafood species is a good reason to go out on a boat into the Sound or along the South coast for the springtime migration of striped bass, black bass, bluefish, porgy, weakfish, scup, hickory shad and tautog all ready to bite. — John Mariani, Forbes.com, 9 Apr. 2025

Overfishing probably wasn’t the cause of the weakfish’s latest decline. — Capt. John McMurray, Field & Stream, 10 Feb. 2020

Climate change was expected to make staple crops less nutritious and to lower the global availability of protein by a fifth, and may alter the mating calls of male weakfish. — Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harper's magazine, 16 Sep. 2019

Also, look for weakfish in Guilford/Madison/New Haven Harbor areas. — Hartford Courant, courant.com, 31 Aug. 2017

Word History

Etymology

obsolete Dutch weekvis, from Dutch week soft + vis fish

First Known Use

1791, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for weakfish

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

Kids Definition

weakfish

noun

weak·​fish ˈwēk-ˌfish 

: a common fish of the eastern coast of the U.S. that is an important food and sport fish

also : any of several related fishes used for food