culinary
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of culinary
1630–40; < Latin culīnārius of the kitchen, equivalent to culīn ( a ) kitchen, food + -ārius -ary
Explanation
Culinary means having to do with cooking or the kitchen. If you go to culinary school, you're learning how to cook, most likely because you want to work as a chef. If you have a culinary streak, you might love cooking for your friends or maybe just watching cooking shows on TV. If your culinary repertoire includes nothing beyond tuna sandwiches and mac-and-cheese out of the box, you have a lot to learn, culinarily speaking!
Vocabulary lists containing culinary
Eat Your Words
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The First Rule of Punk
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With the Fire on High
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
But when longtime host Padma Lakshmi stepped down, Kish received an unexpected opportunity to return to the culinary competition by stepping up as its new host, a role she assumed in 2024.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026
Diverse culinary offerings cater to electric-vehicle owners, who can linger at stations as their cars charge, while also drawing drivers of more fuel-efficient cars that require fewer stops.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 6, 2026
"The use of herbs and natural seasonings as alternatives to salt or culinary techniques such as using the acidity of citrus fruits may help reduce discretionary salt use while maintaining food palatability," concluded Santos.
From Science Daily • Jun. 4, 2026
The spin-off series sees a number of celebrities face cooking challenges, with judges overseeing their culinary skills until one star makes it to the end to claim the Celebrity MasterChef trophy.
From BBC • Jun. 3, 2026
He urged Chicago hostesses to hire some French chefs to improve their culinary diction.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
