noun

jellyfish

JEH-lee-fihsh

noun

A soft-bodied, mostly transparent sea creature with a bell-shaped body and trailing tentacles, often capable of stinging.

"A jellyfish drifted past the swimmers, its tentacles trailing behind it."

"She got stung by a jellyfish while wading in the shallows."

How to Use Jellyfish

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishThe soft, see-through sea animal that can sting you with its tentacles.

Common mistake

Despite the name, jellyfish are not fish — they have no backbone, gills, or fins; they're more closely related to corals and anemones.

Common pairings

a jellyfish sting swarm of jellyfish jellyfish tentacles

jellyfish plural, jellyfishes plural

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Can you complete this real example?

A _____ drifted past the swimmers, its tentacles trailing behind it.

From jelly + fish, describing an aquatic creature with a gelatinous, jelly-like body — even though jellyfish are not true fish at all.

crayfish