Glint
collective noun /ɡlɪnt/ — A group of goldfish — catching the light and disappearing again.
Definition
The collective noun for a group of goldfish, named for the flash of metallic colour they produce when they turn in the light.
Beyond the definition
Goldfish in a group are a study in brief brilliance — a turn, a glint, and then gone below the surface. The word captures that quality exactly: the flash of seeing something beautiful before it vanishes.
Origin & history
From Old Norse glinta — to glitter, to flash. Goldfish were brought to Europe from China in the 17th century and became ornamental pond fish. The collective noun glint refers to the visual impression of a group: sudden, bright, and gone.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
A glint of goldfish turned beneath the lily pads, orange in the deep green.
She stood at the pond's edge watching a glint catch the afternoon — one of those simple moments.
Glint is a collective noun that holds more beauty than it looks like it should.
Synonyms
school, group, shoal
Related words
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Word in focus
A glint of goldfish
A glint of goldfish moved beneath the pond's surface.
Glint is a fanciful collective name for goldfish. The photograph shows many goldfish swimming together, rather than one fish or an unrelated shoal.
Image credit: Юкатан · CC BY-SA 4.0 (license)
Resized and converted to WebP; full composition retained.