vegetarian

Noun (1)

vegetarian (plural vegetarians)

1. A person who does not eat animal flesh, or, in some cases, use any animal products.
   • "The sight and smell of raw meat are especially odious to me, and I have often thought that if I had had to be my own cook, I should inevitably become a vegetarian, probably, indeed, return entirely to my green and salad days."1839, Fanny Kemble, Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838-1839, New York: Harper and Brothers, published 1863, pp. 197-198
   • Vegetarian Society […] A society […] formed at Manchester in 1847, to promote the use of cereals, pulse, and fruit, as articles of diet; and to induce habits of abstinence from fish, flesh, and fowl, as food.1897, Robert Hunter, Charles Morris, Universal Dictionary of the English Language, volume 4, page 5045
2. An animal that eats only plants; a herbivore.

   Synonyms:

   herbivore

Adjective

vegetarian (comparative more vegetarian, superlative most vegetarian)

1. Of or relating to the type of diet eaten by vegetarians (in all senses).
   • Must we not put to death blackbirds and thrushes because they feed on worms, or (if capital punishment offends our humanitarianism) starve them slowly by permanent captivity and vegetarian diet?1893, David George Ritchie, Natural Rights: A Criticism of Some Political and Ethical Conceptions
   • According to interviews by New York Times correspondents across the country, more and more people—especially the young—are giving up “flesh foods” in favor of a vegetarian way of life.1975 March 21, Judy Klemesrud, “Vegetarianism: Growing Way of Life, Especially Among the Young”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 02 Nov 2025

   Synonyms:

   Pythagorean

2. Without meat.
3. Of a product normally made with meat, having non-meat substitutes in place of meat.
   • Is there such a thing as a good tasting vegetarian hot dog? Cuz every one I've tried tasted like smelted tire.2008, Wil Forbis, Acid Logic: A Decade of Humorous Writing on Pop Culture, Trash Cinema, and Rebel Music, page 208

   Synonyms:

   plant-based

4. That does not eat meat.
   • I have a vegetarian brother

   Antonyms:

   nonvegetarian

Noun (2) capitalized: Vegetarian

US/vɛd͡ʒɪˈtɛɹi.ən/UK/vɛd͡ʒɪˈtɛəɹi.ən/

Vegetarian (usually uncountable, plural Vegetarians)

1. (obsolete, usually) Obsolete spelling of vegetarian.
   • “I must preface this essay by the confession that I am myself a Vegetarian, and that I mean to say all the good I can of the principles of Vegetarianism.”1886, Henry Stephens Salt, A Plea for Vegetarianism and Other Essays, page 7