noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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gōld'fĭsh
/ˈɡoʊldfɪʃ/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -oʊldfɪʃ
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:G OW1 L D F IH2 SH
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A type of small fish, Carassius auratus, typically orange-colored.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
For the children's fair we'll have a few games they can play, so that each child "wins" a goldfish as a prize.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A person with an unreliable memory.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively, informal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
Nonstandard form of Goldfish (“a small orange saltine-like cracker shaped in the form of a fish”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, nonstandard
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A small orange saltine-like cracker shaped in the form of a fish.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
small golden or orange-red freshwater fishes of Eurasia used as pond or aquarium fishes
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Carassius auratus
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: cyprinid, cyprinid fish
Narrower terms: silverfish
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵhelh3- Proto-Indo-European *ǵhĺ̥h3-to-mder. Proto-Germanic *gulþą Proto-West Germanic *golþ Old English gold Middle English gold English gold Proto-Indo-European *péysks Proto-Germanic *fiskaz Proto-West Germanic *fisk Old English fisċ Middle English fisch English fish English goldfish From gold + fish.
From goldfish. Named after the shape and color.
Across languages
Translations
84 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
goudvis
— fish
Albanian:
peshk i kuq
— fish
Arabic:
سَمَكَة زِينة
— fish
Azerbaijani:
şələquyruq qızıl balığı
— fish
Azerbaijani:
Yapon balığı
— fish
Basque:
urre-arrain
— fish
Belarusian:
залата́я ры́бка
(zalatája rýbka)
— fish
Bulgarian:
зла́тна ри́бка
(zlátna ríbka)
— fish
Catalan:
carpí
— fish
Chinese Mandarin:
金魚 /金鱼
(jīnyú)
— fish
Cornish:
owrbysk
— fish
Cornish:
owrbesk
— fish
Czech:
zlatá rybka
— fish
Danish:
guldfisk
— fish
Dutch:
goudvis
— fish
Esperanto:
orfiŝo
— fish
Estonian:
kuldkala
— fish
Finnish:
kultakala
— fish
French:
poisson rouge
— fish
French:
carassin doré
— fish
West-Frisian:
goudfisk
— fish
German:
Goldfisch
— fish
Greek:
χρυσόψαρο
(chrysópsaro)
— fish
Hawaiian:
iʻa ʻulaʻula
— fish
Hebrew:
דַּג זָהָב
(dag zaháv)
— fish
Hindi:
सुनहरी मछली
(sunahrī machlī)
— fish
Hungarian:
aranyhal
— fish
Icelandic:
gullfiskur
— fish
Indonesian:
ikan mas
— fish
Irish:
iasc órga
— fish
Italian:
pesce rosso
— fish
Japanese:
金魚
(kingyo)
— fish
Kapampangan:
talang-talang
— fish
Kazakh:
алтын балық
(altyn balyq)
— fish
Korean:
금붕어
(geumbung'eo)
— fish
Latvian:
Zelta zivtiņa
— fish
Macedonian:
златна рипка
(zlatna ripka)
— fish
Malay:
ikan emas
— fish
Malay:
ikan mas
— fish
Malayalam:
സ്വർണ്ണമത്സം
(svaṟṇṇamatsaṁ)
— fish
Manx:
eeast airhey
— fish
Māori:
morihana
— fish
Mongolian:
алтан загас
(altan zagas)
— fish
Norwegian Bokmål:
gullfisk
— fish
Norwegian Nynorsk:
gullfisk
— fish
Persian:
ماهی قرمز
(mâhi-ye qermez)
— fish
Polish:
złota rybka
— fish
Portuguese:
doirada
— fish
Portuguese:
peixinho dourado
— fish
Romanian:
peștișor auriu
— fish
Romanian:
caras-auriu
— fish
Russian:
золота́я ры́бка
(zolotája rýbka)
— fish
Skolt-Sami:
kåʹllkueʹll
— fish
Serbo-Croatian:
златна рибица
— fish
Serbo-Croatian:
zlatna ribica
— fish
Slovak:
zlatá rybka
— fish
Slovak:
karas striebristý
— fish
Slovak:
karas zlatý
— fish
Slovene:
zlata ribica
— fish
Spanish:
pez rojo
— fish
Spanish:
pez dorado
— fish
Spanish:
pez de oro
— fish
Spanish:
pez de colores
— fish
Spanish:
carpa dorada
— fish
Swedish:
guldfisk
— fish
Tagalog:
lali
— fish
Thai:
ปลาทอง
(bplaa tong)
— fish
Tibetan:
གསེར་ཉ
(gser nya)
— fish
Turkish:
Japon balığı
— fish
Ukrainian:
золота́ ри́бка
(zolotá rýbka)
— fish
Urdu:
سنہری مچھلی
(sunharī machlī)
— fish
Uzbek:
oltin baliq
— fish
Vietnamese:
cá vàng
— fish
Vietnamese:
cá ba đuôi
— fish
Volapük:
ziporüt
— fish
Volapük:
goldafit
— fish
Volapük:
golüdafit (original Volapük, Volapük rigik)
— fish
Welsh:
pysgod aur
— fish
Welsh:
pysgodyn aur
— fish
Yiddish:
גאָלדפֿיש
(goldfish)
— fish
Zhuang:
byagim
— fish
Finnish:
huonomuistinen
— person with an unreliable memory
Finnish:
kultakala
— person with an unreliable memory
Polish:
złota rybka
— person with an unreliable memory
