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Definition of "savory" [sa•vor•y•vo•ry]

  • Appetizing to the taste or smell: a savory stew. (adjective)
  • Piquant, pungent, or salty to the taste; not sweet. (adjective)
  • Morally respectable; inoffensive: a past that was scarcely savory. (adjective)
  • A dish of pungent taste, such as anchovies on toast or pickled fruit, sometimes served in Great Britain as an hors d'oeuvre or instead of a sweet dessert. (noun)
  • An annual Mediterranean aromatic herb (Satureja hortensis) of the mint family, having flowers with a pale lavender to white corolla. Also called summer savory. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "savory" in a sentence
  • "The sweet paired with the savory is what made it so good!"
  • "The pasta sounds really delicious (I love corn in savory applications) – I love me some ham but I think bacon is even better"
  • "And Moroccan is bad if you hate that particular combination of spices they use plus fruit in savory food."