caramel
Americannoun
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a liquid made by cooking sugar until it changes color, used for coloring and flavoring food.
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a kind of chewy candy, commonly in small blocks, made from sugar, butter, milk, etc.
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a yellowish brown or tan color.
noun
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burnt sugar, used for colouring and flavouring food
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a chewy sweet made from sugar, butter, milk, etc
Usage
What is caramel? Caramel is a liquid made by heating sugar until it changes to a brownish color. Caramel is used for coloring or flavoring food.Caramel is often used as a flavoring or sauce for a variety of foods, especially desserts, such as caramel ice cream and caramel-coated popcorn.The word caramel can also refer to a chewy candy made from the heated sugar, milk, butter, and other ingredients. It’s often shaped into cubes and is sometimes covered in chocolate, which you might find in a box of Valentine’s Day chocolates.Finally, caramel can refer to a tan or yellowish-brown color that resembles the color of the sugary liquid, as in The cat had a caramel-colored tail.Example: My favorite candy is a chocolate bar filled with caramel.
Etymology
Origin of caramel
First recorded in 1715–25; from French, from Spanish or Portuguese caramelo, from Late Latin calamellus “little reed” (by dissimilation), equivalent to calam(us) reed ( calamus ) + -ellus diminutive suffix; meaning changed by association with Medieval Latin cannamella, canna mellis, etc., “sugarcane,” equivalent to Latin canna cane + mel “honey” (genitive mellis )
Compare meaning
How does caramel compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
At M&S varieties now include red velvet, lemon curd, tiramisu, caramel fudge, chocolate, cheese and apple incarnations.
From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026
Melt-in-your-mouth meringue floats in a puddle of decadent crème anglaise, topped with caramel and toasted almonds.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
The ignominious honor for highest sugar level goes to the large caramel crème frozen coffee, which features a whopping 172 grams, 160 of them non-naturally-occurring sweeteners.
From Slate • Mar. 5, 2026
On the catwalk and in his own life, Valentino exuded luxury down to the last detail of his immaculate hairdo and caramel tan, often photographed with multiple pug dogs at his side.
From Barron's • Jan. 19, 2026
The sea salt caramel pint is no longer sealed or in the freezer—it’s empty at the bottom of the garbage can under the sink.
From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner
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.
