palatable

American  

[pal-uh-tuh-buhl] / ˈpæl ə tə bəl /

adjective

1. acceptable or agreeable to the palate or taste; savory.

   palatable food.

   Synonyms:

   delectable, delicious

   Antonyms:

   distasteful, tasteless, unsavory, unpalatable

2. acceptable or agreeable to the mind or feelings.

   palatable ideas.

   Synonyms:

   satisfactory, pleasing

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palatable British  

/ ˈpælətəbəl /

adjective

1. pleasant to taste

2. acceptable or satisfactory

   a palatable suggestion

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Related Words

Palatable, appetizing, tasty, savory all refer to tastes or aromas pleasing to the palate and in some cases to the olfactory nerves. Palatable has the least positive connotation of these terms, often referring to food that is merely acceptable and not especially good: a palatable, if undistinguished, main course; a barely palatable mixture of overcooked vegetables. Appetizing suggests stimulation of the appetite by the smell, taste of food, and is the only one of these words that can also refer to food pleasing to the eye: the appetizing aroma of baking bread; the table contained an appetizing display of meats, cheeses, and salads. Tasty refers to food that has a notable or especially appealing taste: mixed with bits of a tasty sausage; an especially tasty sauce. Savory refers most often to well or highly seasoned foods and applies to their appeal in both taste and smell: a savory, succulent roast of beef, spiced with slivers of garlic; the savory aroma of a simmering duck sauce.

Other Word Forms

• nonpalatable
  adjective
• nonpalatably
  adverb
• palatability
  noun
• palatableness
  noun
• palatably
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of palatable

First recorded in 1660–70; palate + -able

Explanation

Something that is palatable is acceptable to one’s sense of taste—literally or figuratively. If it's palatable, then you can put up with it — whether it's leftovers or a mediocre made-for-TV movie. The palate is the roof of the mouth, the combination of structures that separates the mouth from the nose. Early anatomists believed that the sense of taste was located in the palate, and, just as taste is metaphorically expanded to include sensibilities beyond the experience of food and drink, so palatable can be used to describe phenomena beyond the culinary. And, while palatable can mean pleasing or agreeable, it generally means merely tolerable—edible, rather than delicious.

Example Sentences

The goal is elbow-rubbing, mutual admiration and envy, and craft talk, so a $45 pass to the Saturday program will include discussions of poetry, literary nonprofits and panels such as "Against Palatable Writing."

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2016

Palatable enough for a while, but with a bad finish.

From Seattle Times • May 18, 2012

And what is Music it self, but a Palatable Cookery of Sounds.

From A Learned Dissertation on Dumpling (1726) [and] Pudding and Dumpling Burnt to Pot. Or a Compleat Key to the Dissertation on Dumpling (1727) by Macey, Samuel L.

Palatable food was as ashes and sawdust to her.

From Shirley by Brontë, Charlotte

Palatable to the taste, resembling chicken in fibre and flavour, but perfectly free from the tissue poisons that abound in animal flesh.

From Reform Cookery Book (4th edition) Up-To-Date Health Cookery for the Twentieth Century. by Mill, Mrs. (Jean Oliver)

Related Words

• acceptable
• agreeable
• appetizing
• attractive
• delicious
• enjoyable
• pleasant
• satisfactory
• tempting