culinary
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of culinary
1630–40; < Latin culīnārius of the kitchen, equivalent to culīn ( a ) kitchen, food + -ārius -ary
Explanation
Culinary means having to do with cooking or the kitchen. If you go to culinary school, you're learning how to cook, most likely because you want to work as a chef. If you have a culinary streak, you might love cooking for your friends or maybe just watching cooking shows on TV. If your culinary repertoire includes nothing beyond tuna sandwiches and mac-and-cheese out of the box, you have a lot to learn, culinarily speaking!
Vocabulary lists containing culinary
Eat Your Words
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The First Rule of Punk
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With the Fire on High
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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.
Students of culinary history will find further rewards.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Noah Lederman sheds light on this unique culinary trend.
From Slate ● Oct. 13, 2026
Rob used to own a café, but he now installs blinds and curtains for a living and uses his free time to channel his culinary creativity.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
Animal rights activists collected the signatures of five percent of registered voters in the District of Colombia to mandate the referendum on the quintessentially French culinary delicacy that is made from the enlarged duck livers.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
He urged Chicago hostesses to hire some French chefs to improve their culinary diction.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
