homemade
Americanadjective
-
made or prepared at home, locally, or by the maker's own efforts.
The restaurant's pastry is homemade. Breakfast at the farmhouse always meant homemade preserves.
-
made in one's own country; domestic.
I prefer a homemade car to one of those foreign models.
-
made, contrived, or assembled by oneself; not professionally made or done; amateurish.
the plain look of homemade furniture.
Etymology
Origin of homemade
Explanation
Something that's homemade is created by a real person, usually in their own house, rather than being mass-produced. Your dad's homemade apple pie is the best you've ever tasted. Your famous homemade chocolate chip cookies are likely to be a bigger hit at the bake sale than a box of ginger snaps dumped on a plate. And the homemade sweater you got for your birthday might be a little itchy, but it's special because your aunt lovingly knitted it herself, using yarn in your favorite color. Homemade things aren't just made at home — they're also usually made with more care than goods produced in factories.
Vocabulary lists containing homemade
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I like making homemade cottage cheese tzatziki with grated cucumbers, diced mint, fresh dill, extra-virgin olive oil, garlic powder and salt.
From Salon • May 24, 2026
The siblings concocted complex lineages and histories for their countries, writing Angrian and Gondalian tales and verse in tiny homemade books.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
As Debbie sat at the register inside, helping a steady flow of the shop’s final patrons, protesters gathered behind the building, clutching homemade posters and waiting for Jeremy to speak.
From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026
Back at the stall, customers sample a homemade mango lassi, a traditional yoghurt-based drink.
From BBC • May 13, 2026
Headmaster stopped at a small shack that sold homemade goodies, this time to guzzle the juice of a coconut.
From "Tiger Boy" by Mitali Perkins
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
