margarine
Americannoun
-
margarines
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of margarine
1870–75; from French margarin, a glyceryl ester of margar(ic acid) ( def. ) + -in -ine 2
Explanation
Margarine is a butter substitute that's made from oil. One brand of margarine goes by the name "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter." Try it, and see if you can tell the difference... Margarine looks a lot like butter — it comes in sticks and in a very soft, spreadable form in a tub. Instead of the butterfat from milk being churned until it's solid (the process for making butter), margarine is made by emulsifying (thickly blending) oil with other fats and ingredients that make it creamy. Margarine was invented in the 1860s by a French scientist.
Vocabulary lists containing margarine
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.
See Examples For:
Even yogurt containers and margarine tubs — made of ubiquitous polypropylene, or #5 plastic — are being recycled at a rate of only 2% in the state, the report said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
“Gray raindrops pattered listlessly on the kitchen window, obscuring the thin morning light” as Honor Wilson is found smearing “a dot of margarine across some toast.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
Other common emulsions are inks, ice cream, margarine and hair products, to name just a few.
From Salon ● Jan. 2, 2024
"Skimpflation" sees the switching of expensive ingredients for cheaper ones, for example margarine where oil content is reduced and replaced with water.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2023
After going on about the margarine, they started fighting about whether or not some painting Mom had done was ugly.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
Two types of processed hard fats commonly found in foods like baked goods, margarines, and spreads appear to have little impact on heart health when eaten in realistic amounts.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 28, 2025
That's because it used to contain harmful trans fats which are strongly linked with cardiovascular disease but modern day margarines "have close to zero amounts of trans fats" according to Forouhi.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2025
However, most people consume seed oils in larger amounts through processed foods such as biscuits, cakes, chips, muesli bars, muffins, dipping sauces, deep-fried foods, salad dressings and margarines.
From Salon ● Feb. 21, 2024
Finally, trans fatty acids found in some processed foods, including some stick and tub margarines, are thought to be even more harmful to the heart and blood vessels than saturated fatty acids.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
I said, "I need one Crisco, four margarines, pareve, and let’s have all your paper towels."
From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg
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.
