right whale

noun

: any of several large baleen whales (family Balaenidae and especially genus Eubalaena) that lack a dorsal fin and have very long baleen plates, an extremely large head with a V-shaped blowhole, a smooth throat, short, broad, rounded flippers, and whitish protuberances of thickened skin about the head

Illustration of right whale

Illustration of right whale

Examples of right whale in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
His grandfather ran across great white sharks; his father, orcas; Hubbard himself has crossed paths with pilot whales, a right whale and one of the largest leatherback turtles he's ever seen. — Amber Harding Outkick, FOXNews.com, 28 July 2026 There are only about 380 North Atlantic right whales remaining. — Patrick Whittle, Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2026 Van Noort and her team decided to take a closer look at how these whale mothers conserve energy by filming them and their calves using drones in the bay of Head of the Bight in South Australia, where southern right whales aggregate and give birth. — Gennaro Tomma, Scientific American, 22 July 2026 The federal government has already paused any new right whale rules until 2028, and the House Natural Resources Committee voted on July 15 to extend that moratorium to 2035. — ABC News, 22 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for right whale

Word History

First Known Use

1725, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of right whale was in 1725

Rhymes for right whale

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Browse Nearby Words

rightward
right whale
right whale porpoise
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Cite this Entry

“Right whale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/right%20whale. Accessed 3 Aug. 2026.

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Kids Definition

right whale

noun
: a large baleen whale with no fin on the back, a very large head, and small eyes near the lower part of the mouth

More from Merriam-Webster on right whale

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about right whale

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