palatable

[pal-uh-tuh-buhl]

adjective

1. acceptable or agreeable to the palate or taste; savory.

   palatable food.

   Synonyms: delectable, delicious
   Antonyms: distasteful, tasteless, unsavory, unpalatable

2. acceptable or agreeable to the mind or feelings.

   palatable ideas.

   Synonyms: satisfactory, pleasing

palatable

/ ˈpælətəbəl /

adjective

1. pleasant to taste

2. acceptable or satisfactory

   a palatable suggestion

Other Word Forms

• palatability noun
• palatably adverb
• palatableness noun
• nonpalatable adjective
• nonpalatably adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of palatable¹

First recorded in 1660–70; palate + -able

Synonym Study

Palatable, appetizing, tasty, savory all refer to tastes or aromas pleasing to the palate and in some cases to the olfactory nerves. Palatable has the least positive connotation of these terms, often referring to food that is merely acceptable and not especially good: a palatable, if undistinguished, main course; a barely palatable mixture of overcooked vegetables. Appetizing suggests stimulation of the appetite by the smell, taste of food, and is the only one of these words that can also refer to food pleasing to the eye: the appetizing aroma of baking bread; the table contained an appetizing display of meats, cheeses, and salads. Tasty refers to food that has a notable or especially appealing taste: mixed with bits of a tasty sausage; an especially tasty sauce. Savory refers most often to well or highly seasoned foods and applies to their appeal in both taste and smell: a savory, succulent roast of beef, spiced with slivers of garlic; the savory aroma of a simmering duck sauce.

Example Sentences

It was more than palatable the next morning with some sweetener and milk.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“It just makes things more palatable to me to think of the duality of life through the eyes of a little puppy dog or ladybug.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The annual holiday, scores of street renamings and public murals honor him, but they also tame his legacy into a universally palatable story of unity.

Read more on Salon

He said Reeves now faced "tough choices, and the test will be whether she can make them palatable to voters and markets".

Read more on BBC

Like his two predecessors, Bayrou and Michel Barnier, he faces a hung parliament divided into three blocs with deeply differing political leanings, making it difficult to craft a budget palatable to a majority of MPs.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• acceptable 
• agreeable 
• appetizing 
• attractive 
• delicious 
• enjoyable 
• pleasant 
• satisfactory 
• tempting