marinara
Americannoun
adjective
Etymology
Origin of marinara
1945–50; < Italian ( alla ) marinara literally, in sailor's style, feminine of marinaro seafaring (adj.), sailor (noun) (dial., for Tuscan marinaio ), equivalent to marin ( a ) sea, noun use of feminine of marino marine + -aro < Latin -ārius -ary
Explanation
Do you love red sauce on your spaghetti? Then you're a fan of marinara, the common tomato-based pasta topping. In Italy, the word marinara is mainly used for specific pasta recipes, like spaghetti alla marinara, literally "mariner's style spaghetti." Experts aren't sure where the name comes from, though some claim it's inspired by fishermen adding seaweed to the sauce to make it saltier. If you want a classic red sauce in Italy, order pomodoro (which means "tomato") instead. In North America, marinara is the most common name for any tomato-based pasta or pizza sauce.
Vocabulary lists containing marinara
Free Lunch
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The Sea in Winter
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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.
That employee also picked up marinara sauce and dog food during several trips to the store in a state-owned vehicle, the report said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
“And after rinsing them of marinara sauce, she would let me put them in the bathtub and I would get in with them.”
From MarketWatch • Nov. 20, 2025
We also use the sauce for that as well, the marinara sauce.
From Salon • Aug. 1, 2024
He tossed broken lasagna into a soup of marinara and ground beef and stirred it together.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 25, 2024
His breakfasts may have been a cardiologist’s nightmare—eggs, sausage, bacon, pastina with a poached egg—but he considered his marinara sauce to be healthy perfection: just garlic, oil, tomatoes, salt, and pepper.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
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.
