butterscotch

[ buht-er-skoch ]

/ ˈbʌt ərˌskɒtʃ /

Save This Word!

noun

a flavor produced in puddings, frostings, ice cream, etc., by combining brown sugar, vanilla extract, and butter with other ingredients.

a hard, brittle taffy made with butter, brown sugar, etc.

a golden brown color.

adjective

having the flavor of butterscotch.

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON OPPOSITES OF RED BEFORE YOU TURN SCARLET

We have a challenge that will make you blush: do you know the many words and ways to describe the opposite of red?

Question 1 of 7

Which of the following colors is used to symbolize AIR?

white

green

red

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of butterscotch

First recorded in 1850–55; earlier also butterscot; the 2nd element of the compound is unexplained

Words nearby butterscotch

butternut, butternut pumpkin, butternut squash, butterpaste, butter sauce, butterscotch, butter someone up, butter spreader, butter tart, butter tree, butter up

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use butterscotch in a sentence

Our journey began on the nine-mile trek out to Mist Falls, a route paralleling the Kings River through ponderosa pines whose flaky red bark smelled like butterscotch.
Standing Up to a Bear in Kings Canyon|Emily Pennington|February 24, 2021|Outside Online
It had “excellent caramelization” and “toasty butterscotch flavors,” with a “pleasant saltiness on the finish.”
Who makes the best chocolate chip cookie? We tasted 14 top brands and ranked them.|Matt Brooks|December 4, 2020|Washington Post
I like to use Valrhona chocolates if possible, but you can substitute your favorite brand of chocolate and use butterscotch or caramel chips in place of Dulcey.
Lean into that love of chocolate with cookies that use it four ways|Jonni Scott|December 2, 2020|Washington Post
The concoction, dubbed Scotchy Scotch Scotch, consists of a butterscotch ice cream with butterscotch swirls.
Anchorman 2’s PR Blitz: Dodge Durangos, Daft Punk, Rob Ford’s Campaign Song, and Whiskey|Marlow Stern|November 22, 2013|DAILY BEAST

There were rich shades of butterscotch and bold hues of purple.
Paris Fall Fashion Week Ends With Vuitton and Kanye|Robin Givhan|March 7, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Chocolate chips or butterscotch chips, walnuts or pecans, coffee or peanut butter or dried fruit…yes, the list goes on and on.
An Unbeatable Brownie|Cookstr.com|November 5, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Even Doncaster butterscotch is more familiar than Doncaster piety, but the Church is particularly active here, nevertheless.
The Great North Road: London to York|Charles G. Harper
Doncaster, out of the season, is a singularly quiet and inoffensive town, and looks as innocent as its native butterscotch.
The Great North Road: London to York|Charles G. Harper
But he wrote other poetry—poetry which everybody knows—poetry as familiar in every child's mouth as butterscotch.
The Haunts of Old Cockaigne|Alex Thompson
The cream pies were on a stick, and coated with chocolate, butterscotch, and vanilla with coconut.
The Blue Ghost Mystery|Harold Leland Goodwin
"I'm no saying Jacinta's no fascinating, an' I've seen ye looking at her like a laddie eyeing a butterscotch," he said.
For Jacinta|Harold Bindloss

British Dictionary definitions for butterscotch

butterscotch

/ (ˈbʌtəˌskɒtʃ) /

noun

a kind of hard brittle toffee made with butter, brown sugar, etc

a flavouring made from these ingredients
(as modifier)butterscotch icing

Word Origin for butterscotch

C19: perhaps first made in Scotland, or perhaps from scotch 1 (sense 3), 'to cut or score', because it was originally cut with a knife into small pieces

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012