pastry
Americannoun
-
a sweet baked food made of dough, especially the shortened paste used for pie crust and the like.
-
any item of food of which such dough forms an essential part, as a pie, tart, or napoleon.
noun
-
a dough of flour, water, shortening, and sometimes other ingredients
-
baked foods, such as tarts, made with this dough
-
an individual cake or pastry pie
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pastry
Explanation
A pastry is a sweet baked good. If you are into fruit tarts or chocolate eclairs, then you've got a thing for pastries. Most pastries start out as a soft dough or batter made from flour, sugar, eggs, milk, and butter. A tray of pastry at breakfast could include Danishes and croissants, while dessert pastries might be baklava, cream puffs, and strudel. All of these are variously flavored baked sweets, some formed from thin layers of flaky dough and others filled with fruit, cream, or other fillings. Another type of pastry is pie crust, a buttery dough that forms the base (and sometimes topping) for pies. Pastry originally meant "food made from paste," and paste meant "dough."
Vocabulary lists containing pastry
Stairway To Leaven: Baking Vocabulary
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Voilà: Croissant Lingo
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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.
Irca makes ingredients and semi-finished products for the pastry, bakery, chocolate and ice cream markets.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 29, 2026
Similar recipe guides consulted professional bakers and award-winning pastry chefs alike, asking them what their favorite boxed cake mix is and their best upgrades.
From Salon • Jun. 14, 2026
In one hand he wields a pickaxe and the other a pastry with a distinctly crimped edge.
From BBC • Jun. 2, 2026
I think it’s safe to say that a math formula written on a sheet of paper is not a conscious entity—just as a croissant recipe is not an edible pastry.
From Slate • May 25, 2026
She scowls as they're presented like delectable pastry treats.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
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.
