culinary

American  

[kyoo-luh-ner-ee, kuhl-uh-] / ˈkyu ləˌnɛr i, ˈkʌl ə- /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or used in cooking or the kitchen.

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culinary British  

/ ˈkʌlɪnərɪ /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or used in the kitchen or in cookery

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Other Word Forms

• culinarily adverb

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!

Example Sentences

A culinary tour through Parisian neighborhoods and a memoir of a family’s risky restaurant launch.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

“Tomato and egg is a culinary truth, one of those elemental pairings that shows up across cultures not because anyone decided it should, but because it just makes sense,” writes Salon’s Ashlie D. Stevens.

From Salon • Apr. 6, 2026

The meals - simple but filling - include meat curries, flatbreads, kebabs, fruits and sweets, reflecting Lucknow's rich culinary tradition.

From BBC • Mar. 28, 2026

And just like in years past, some of the region’s top culinary talents will be joining them.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026

The smell of cooking food is often a calming one, and the kitchen grew cozy as the sauce simmered, a culinary term which means “cooked over low heat.”

From "The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Snicket