savory

UK/ˈseɪ.və.ɹi/US/ˈseɪ.və.ɹi/

adjectiveB1+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,737 of 15,258neutral

Savory means salty rather than sweet. A savory dish, savory snacks, savory and sweet.

It is the everyday opposite of sweet, and it overlaps with umami without meaning the same thing — umami is a specific taste and savory is a category of food. This is the American spelling; British writing has savoury. Note that savory is also a herb, which is an unrelated word.

Definitions of savory

1adjectivesavorySalty rather than sweet.B1+
“I prefer a savory breakfast, like eggs and bacon, to a sweet one.”
- Said"I'd rather something savory than cake; is there any ham?"
- WrittenThe savory pies sold out by noon, and the sweet ones sat there until closing.
- UsedOffer a savory option at the party for people who avoid dessert.
- ContrastSavory, not sweet. Sweet is sugar and fruit; savory is salt, meat, cheese and herbs. sweet →
- Not thisSour is not savory. Savory is the salty half of eating, not the sharp one.
- SimplyThis is savory food. It is not sweet.
Patternsavory + noun (snack, pie, dish) · sweet or savory · savoury (British) · savory flavour

savory is a quality of taste.

Also accepted in games: savoury

Remember it

The Latin is taste: savoury food is the salty, full taste of meat and cheese, not of sugar.

hooks ontotaste

Where it comes from

Old French savoure comes from Latin sapor, taste. Savour and sapient come from the same tasting.

Old French
savourer
Middle English
savory
English, today
savory

Built from

sapio · Latin — taste of, have a flavour of

From Middle English savory, from savourie, from Old French savourer. From the Middle English savory, savourie, from Old French savouré, from Old French savourer, from Latin sapōrō, from Latin sapor (“taste, flavour”), from sapio (“taste of, have a flavour of”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in In the Kitchen

Practise this word

savory in the wild

Several species are cultivated as culinary herbs called savory, and they have become established in the wild in a few places.
Satureja
Satureja montana (winter savory or mountain savory), is a perennial, semi-evergreen herb in the family Lamiaceae, native to warm temperate regions of southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and Africa.
Winter savory
The closely related summer savory (Satureja hortensis L.) is an annual plant.
Winter savory
Summer savory (Satureja hortensis) is among the best known of the savory genus.
Summer savory
Lugaw may refer to various dishes, both savory and sweet.
Lugaw

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the sapio family

savvy savor savant savour

savory — used about once every 15,236 pages · #12,737 · point at the bar for the others

Definitions of savory

1adjectivesavorySalty rather than sweet.B1+

“I prefer a savory breakfast, like eggs and bacon, to a sweet one.”

Said"I'd rather something savory than cake; is there any ham?"
WrittenThe savory pies sold out by noon, and the sweet ones sat there until closing.
UsedOffer a savory option at the party for people who avoid dessert.
ContrastSavory, not sweet. Sweet is sugar and fruit; savory is salt, meat, cheese and herbs. sweet →
Not thisSour is not savory. Savory is the salty half of eating, not the sharp one.
SimplyThis is savory food. It is not sweet.

Patternsavory + noun (snack, pie, dish) · sweet or savory · savoury (British) · savory flavour

savory is a quality of taste.

Also accepted in games: savoury