amuse-bouche
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of amuse-bouche
1955–60; < French amuser to gratify, amuse + bouche mouth
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.
If we were wrong on the timeline—and that is a greater risk now—the recent weakness in financial markets could be an amuse-bouche before a bearish feast.
From Barron's • Mar. 18, 2026
Boyle used him as an amuse-bouche to get us excited to come back for another installment.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 15, 2026
“I didn’t know what an amuse-bouche was, and for that reason I will always root for ‘Top Chef.’”
From Salon • Sep. 12, 2024
No. It’s an appetizer for better things to come, an amuse-bouche at best — at worst, a placeholder meal of cinematic comfort food, tiding us all over until it’s summer blockbuster season again.
From Washington Post • Mar. 1, 2023
“They makes a fine amuse-bouche for the king of the sea.”
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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.
