goldfish

From gold +‎ fish.

• enPR: gōld'fĭsh, IPA^(key): /ˈɡoʊldfɪʃ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: gold‧fish
• Rhymes: -oʊldfɪʃ

goldfish (plural goldfish or goldfishes)

1. A type of small fish, Carassius auratus, typically orange-colored.

   For the children's fair we'll have a few games they can play, so that each child "wins" a goldfish as a prize.

   • 2017, Howard Bennett, The Fantastic Body: What Makes You Tick & How You Get Sick:

     However, unless you have a nonshedding, nonlicking breed, there's no such thing as a truly hypoallergenic dog. How about a nice goldfish instead?

2. (figuratively, informal) A person with an unreliable memory.
3. Nonstandard form of Goldfish (“a small orange saltine-like cracker shaped in the form of a fish”).
   • 2000 January 1, Tracy T., “Knock knock...”, in alt.fan.british-accent‎^[1] (Usenet), archived from the original on 21 October 2025:

     Tomato soup is not complete without a toasted cheese sandwich and goldfishes. Not the new kind with the smiley faces though.

   • 2004 December 17, Brodysmommy, “11 month old picky eater or something bigger??”, in misc.kids‎^[2] (Usenet), archived from the original on 21 October 2025:

     The only solids he will eat are the Gerber Puffs, Cheerios, maybe some goldfish, and oyster crackers.

   • 2015, Josh Nealis, chapter 4, in Stuffed Squirrels & Porcelain Angels, Cutthroat Comics & Publishing, →ISBN, page 92:

     I’ve seen people let their kid drink from their drink and then drink from it themselves. That’s pushing the limits. That kid for sure just backwashed lime disease into your drink. Not to mention all the little chunks of animal crackers and goldfishes.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:goldfish.