Entry · Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Whale Shark
/WAYL shahrk/ n.- 1. The largest extant fish, Rhincodon typus, distinguished by a flattened, broadly rounded rostrum, a body cross-section that a standard shipping container would envy, and a caudal region of such lateral amplitude that divers behind it report a brief, involuntary moment of recalibration.
- 2. colloq. Fourteen meters of slow-moving, filter-feeding, open-ocean architecture. The tail end is the event. Everything forward of the dorsal fin is just the approach.
"The dive guide said 'just swim alongside it,' but the whale shark was so thiccc that 'alongside' turned out to be a fifteen-minute commitment. The rear third alone required its own itinerary."
From Old English hwaел (whale) + Old English sceark (via Middle Low German schark), with the genus name Rhincodon from Greek rhynchos (snout) and odon (tooth). Scientists named it for the front. The Thiccctionary notes this was a missed opportunity.
Filed by
The whale shark's caudal region alone required its own itinerary, which felt like a structural qualification.
Ruling ADMITTED
The rostrum is not broadly rounded. It is flattened and broadly rounded. Both words are doing work. Admitted.
In the margin
Scientists named an animal this size for its snout and teeth. The entry is correct. That was a missed opportunity of historic proportions.
Also received REJECTED
Submitted: a wire coat hanger. A coat hanger has curves, like a whale shark, if you look at the hook part specifically and generously.
It is wire. It is a hanger. It is not thiccc. No.