savory
UK/ˈseɪ.və.ɹi/
savory adjective: tasty, attractive to the palate.
Adjective
savory (comparative savorier, superlative savoriest)
- Tasty, attractive to the palate.
- The fine restaurant presented an array of savory dishes; each was delicious.
- Either salty or spicy, but not sweet.
- The mushrooms, meat, bread, rice, peanuts and potatoes were all good savory foods.
- Umami.
- The savory rabbit soup contrasted well with the sweet cucumber sandwiches with jam.
- Morally or ethically acceptable.
- Readers are to be warned that quotations in this chapter contain some not so savory language.
- The ruthless practices of the Ontario Film Censor Board are by now the laughing stock of most of the world. Scenes that contain more flesh or affection than they find savoury are simply hacked out of the film before it is released.1981 February 14, Alexander Wilson, “The New Right Attacks Childhood Sexuality: A Canadian Perspective”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 29, page 6
Noun (1)
savory (plural savories)
- A savory snack.
- On Friday the pastry chef Pichet Ong will open his own cafe, with sweets and savories served at tables and a counter.2007 April 18, Florence Fabricant, “Off the Menu”, in New York Times
Noun (2)
savory (countable and uncountable, plural savories)
- Any of several Mediterranean herbs, of the genus Satureja, grown as culinary flavourings.
- There are some who advise taking the noxious herb savory; in my judgment it is poison.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 208
- The leaves of these plants used as a flavouring.
Proper noun capitalized: Savory
Savory (plural Savorys)
- A surname.
savory meaning in Hindi, Bengali, Arabic and Indonesian
savory in Hindi
- tasty, attractive to the palate
- सलोना salonā
savory in Bengali
- সুস্বাদু, মুখরোচক
savory in Arabic
- tasty, attractive to the palate
- شَهِيّ šahiyy, مَرِيء marīʔ
- salty or non-sweet
- مالح
- herb of genus Satureja
- نَدْغ nadḡ
savory in Indonesian
- tasty, attractive to the palate
- sedap
- salty or non-sweet
- gurih
More languagesFewer languages
- savory in Persian
- مرزه marze
- savory in Thai
- รสอูมามิ, อูมามิ uu-maa-mí
- savory in Vietnamese
- ngọt thịt
Examples of savory in a sentence
- This dish is a Southern classic, known for its flaky crust and savory filling.
- This braised eggplant has all those savory parm-y flavors, but in an easy any-night form.
- The blintse was a little pocket of delight, sweet raisins combined with the crumbly and savory cheese.
Forms of savory
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | savorier |
| superlative | savoriest |
| alternative British usually | savoury |
| Noun | |
| plural | savories |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Savorys |
Origin of savory
From the Middle English savory, savourie, from Old French savouré, from Old French savourer, from Late Latin sapōrāre, from Latin sapor (“taste, flavour”), from sapiō, sapere (“taste of, have a flavour of”).
From Middle English saverey, possibly from Old English sæþerie, from Latin satureia, influenced by or via Old French savereie.
Words formed from savory
Words that rhyme with savory
Questions about savory
- What does savory mean?
- Savory means tasty, attractive to the palate.
- What is savory in Hindi?
- Savory in Hindi is सलोना (salonā). See Savory meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is savory?
- Savory can be an adjective, a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce savory?
- Savory is pronounced /ˈseɪ.və.ɹi/ (UK).
Words near savory in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: savory (page history and authors); Savory (page history and authors); savory (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-savory.ogg.
Cite this entry: “savory.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/savory. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.