umami

American  

[oo-mah-mee] / uˈmɑ mi /

noun

1. a strong meaty taste imparted by glutamate and certain other amino acids: often considered to be one of the basic taste sensations along with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty.

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Etymology

Origin of umami

First recorded in 1960–65; from Japanese: literally, “savory quality, delicious taste,” equivalent to uma-, the inflectional stem of umai “(to be) delicious” + -mi, a suffix forming abstract nouns from adjectives

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

umami

The meat was packed with beefy, buttery and umami flavors, without the iron bite of other steaks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

Finish with a few dashes of your favorite umami seasoning blend and bits of crispy prosciutto.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

They've experimented with different microorganisms to minimise off-flavours and maximise desirable flavour compounds such as umami or sweetness.

From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026

The unique blend from Yame, Japan, has a nutty taste, umami finish and comes in a bright orange tin.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026

“It’s all in there—and by the way, umami means ‘deliciousness,’ even though I don’t remotely like mushrooms.”

From "Liar & Spy" by Rebecca Stead