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Definition of sea chub
sea chub
Plural:sea chubs
sea chub Lexical Profile
CEFR
C2
Grade
10
Tier
3
Usage
Rare
• noun
1
Any of various schooling marine fishes belonging to the family Kyphosidae, typically found in warm coastal waters and coral reefs globally, characterized by an oval body and a diet consisting primarily of benthic algae.
Example
"While snorkeling over the tropical reef, the marine biologist photographed a large school of sea chub grazing on the algae-covered rocks."
Synonyms
View all synonyms for sea chubWord Origin & Etymology
A compound of 'sea' and 'chub', borrowing the name of the stout-bodied freshwater fish (from Middle English 'chubbe') to describe marine fishes with similarly thick, oval bodies.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.
180019102020
Data source: Google Books Ngram Viewer
Cite this Entry
Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Sea chub. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Oct 15, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/sea chub