dragon fruit

American

[drag-uhn froot] / ˈdræg ən ˌfrut /

Or dragonfruit

noun

a round or oval fruit produced by any of several cactus species, especially Selenicereus undatus, usually having red, pink, or yellow scaly skin and sweet white or red pulp filled with small black seeds.

dragon fruit British

noun

another name for pitahaya

"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

Etymology

Origin of dragon fruit

First recorded in 1960–65; probably a loan translation from a Southeast Asian language

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.

Compared to traditional crops dragon fruit promises higher returns and relatively stable prices.

From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026

Dr Sunila Kumari, is also on a mission to find the most promising varieties of dragon fruit for Indian farmers.

From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026

McDonald’s recently tested Sprite with lemon-vanilla syrup and dragon fruit.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026

I don’t love eating dragon fruit, but I find it to be beautiful.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2025

My skin feels prickly, like the spikes from a dragon fruit are rolling up and down my arm.

From "Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish" by Pablo Cartaya

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023