(initial capital letter) the sparkling, dry, white table wine from the region of Champagne in France.
a similar sparkling wine produced elsewhere.
(formerly) the nonsparkling, dry, white table wine produced in the region of Champagne in France.
a very pale yellow or greenish-yellow color.
anything considered the best or luxurious.
having the color of champagne.
luxurious or expensive.
champagne tastes.
(sometimes capital) a white sparkling wine produced around Reims and Epernay, France
(loosely) any effervescent white wine
a colour varying from a pale orange-yellow to a greyish-yellow
( as adjective )
a champagne carpet
(modifier) denoting a luxurious lifestyle
a champagne capitalist
First recorded in 1655–65; after Champagne
Champagne is a bubbly white wine that people often drink to celebrate happy occasions. When you pull the cork out of a bottle of champagne, it makes a loud pop. Traditionally, the sparkling wine known as champagne came from a specific region of France and was made from certain grapes grown there. Some people now call any sparkling wine champagne, but most champagnes are made following certain rules and traditions. A champagne glass is called a flute, and it's tall and narrow with a long stem. The word champagne is short for vin de Champagne, "wine made in Champagne."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Tilley said the portrait took about nine months to complete, with sittings typically lasting from early morning until mid-afternoon several days a week – but including long restaurant lunches with champagne.
From BBC • Jun. 25, 2026
Briefly we hope that Gillespie and screenwriter Ana Nogueira are shaking up the superhero format like a bottle of gas-station champagne.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 24, 2026
Producers of Loire Valley whites send 45 percent of their exports to the United States and Beaujolais sends 30 percent, whereas just 16 percent of champagne exports go to the US market.
From Barron's • Jun. 15, 2026
JC: Think about it: The world of sports has entered a bizarre new dimension, one in which formerly sad-sack teams are now the ones downing champagne and getting showered in confetti.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026
So Cook and Mr. Henry divided the bottles among twenty champagne flutes, and poured a measure of a bottle of Coca-Cola for the household staff, since there was no champagne left.
From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland
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.
