remora means any of various elongate fish from the family Echeneidae, the dorsal fin of which is in the form of a suction disc that can take a firm hold against the skin of larger marine animals. It carries an Arena rating of 1483, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, remora ranks #211 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #242 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #417 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #1,202 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words.
remora is pronounced /ɹɪˈmɔːɹə/.
Why “remora” is a great word
A slender marine fish that attaches itself to sharks, turtles, or ships via a distinctive suction disc on its head, or, by extension, any clinging obstacle or hindrance. From Latin remora ("delay, hindrance"), from re- ("back") + mora ("delay"), from the ancient belief that the fish could slow ships by attaching to them; first attested in English 1560–70. Unlike "parasite," which feeds on a host's vitality, or "impediment," a generic blockage, a remora is a commensal passenger and a delay of a peculiarly adhesive, persistent kind. It is the faint, tenacious drag on the hull, the bureaucrat whose signature is perpetually withheld, the guest who overstays until the candles gutter—a testament to how the smallest, most clinging things can slow the greatest momentum.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin remora (“delay, hindrance, passive resistance”), from the belief that the fish would attach themselves to ships and slow them down, from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards’) + mora (“delay”) (from Proto-Indo-European *mere (“to delay, hinder”), from *(s)mer- (“to fall into thinking, remember; to care for”)).
noun
- Any of various elongate fish from the family Echeneidae, the dorsal fin of which is in the form of a suction disc that can take a firm hold against the skin of larger marine animals.
- A serpent.
- A delay; a hindrance, an obstacle.
- A surgical instrument, intended to retain parts in their places.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- sharksucker 72% match — The remora or suckerfish. vs remora →
- echeneid 65% match — Any fish of the family Echeneidae (the remoras or suckerfish). vs remora →
- whalesucker 61% match — A tropical species of remora, Remora australis, that attaches exclusively to cetaceans. vs remora →
- lamprey 53% match — Any long slender primitive eel-like freshwater and saltwater fish of the order Petromyzontiformes, having a sucking mouth with rasping teeth but no jaw. vs remora →
- clingfish 52% match — A small marine fish of the family Gobiesocidae which has a sucking disc on its underside that it uses to cling to rocks and seaweed. vs remora →
- scleroderm 51% match — One of a tribe of plectognath fishes (Sclerodermi) having the skin covered with hard scales, or plates, such as the cowfish and trunkfish. vs remora →
- echinorhinid 50% match — Any shark in the family Echinorhinidae. vs remora →
- ratfish 50% match — A fish of any of the species in family Chimaeridae. vs remora →