Skip to main content
amberjack

amberjack

8.6
A large sea fish that eats other fish, with a forked tail and yellow or copper colour
  • noun
  • /ˈæmbərˌdʒæk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : pez amberjack
  • Wherever they sailed, the dense schools of amberjack and billfish observed from orbit turned and headed for waters that were colder and deeper than anything they normally inhabited.

Examples

  • Species with the highest overall effort were (in descending order): grouper, snapper, king mackerel, dolphin, amberjack, and spotted seatrout.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Species with the highest overall effort were, in descending order: snapper, grouper, amberjack, and king mackerel, Scomberomorus cavalla.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Species targeted by most Florida operators included grouper, king mackerel, snapper, amberjack, dolphin, bonito, Sarda sarda, and shark.

    Academic text (1992)
  • While fishing off the coast, I caught a large amberjack that weighed over thirty pounds.

  • The restaurant's special today features grilled amberjack served with a lemon butter sauce.

  • Diving near the reef, we spotted a magnificent amberjack swimming among the coral.

Synonyms

amberfish
vsamberjack
  • Specialized
9.6

A fish with an amber or copper color and a forked tail that lives in warm tropical seas

refers specifically to the larger predatory species among those fish
Seriola
vsamberjack
  • Specialized
9.4

A group of large sea fish called amberjacks

is the common name used for these fish rather than the genus
jackfish
vsamberjack
  • US
7.1

A sea fish like a trevally that lives near the coast

is narrower and points to large predatory warm-water members with amber color

How Big

marlin
24 5.5
ulua
  • US
9.9
amberjack
  • Specialized
8.6
snapper
10 6.6
goby
1 8.2

Surface Forms

amberjack singular
amberjacks plural

Morphology

amberjack = amber + jack (semi-transparent) = amber + jack

The components 'amber' (a colour) and 'jack' (a type of fish) are visible, but learners who don't know 'jack' as a fish may not infer the precise referent; the name is descriptive of colour plus fish type.

Etymology

Amberjack comes from two parts: amber, meaning 'golden' or 'yellow', and jack, a common name for many sea 'fish'. So an amberjack is a large fish with a yellowish to copper colour, which makes the name easy to remember.