sapid

American  

[sap-id] / ˈsæp ɪd /

adjective

1. having taste or flavor.

2. agreeable to the taste; palatable.

3. agreeable, as to the mind; to one's liking.

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sapid British  

/ ˈsæpɪd, səˈpɪdɪtɪ /

adjective

1. having a pleasant taste

2. agreeable or engaging

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Other Word Forms

• sapidity noun
• sapidness noun

Etymology

Origin of sapid

1625–35; < Latin sapidus tasty; cf. sage ¹

Explanation

Something that's sapid is very flavorful or savory. A sapid beef stew tastes rich and delicious. The adjective sapid is a fairly uncommon way to describe something with a rich, deep flavor. You can declare your grandmother's Thanksgiving feast sapid, though you may have to reassure her that it's a compliment — sapid is more often used in scientific or industry writing about food than in cooking magazines. It comes from the Latin sapidus, "savory, or having a taste," from the root sapere, which means both "to taste" and "to be wise."

Example Sentences

It’s a particularly toothsome, sapid red marked by notes of red fruit and spice, and a wonderful match with a wide range of foods.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025

Unlike animals raised in feedlots and pens, Stone Barns' animals oxygenate their muscles with all their ranging and grass-eating, and thereby develop more sapid meat.

From Time Magazine Archive

The same circumstance obtains in the continued application of sound, or of sapid bodies, or of odorous ones, or of tangible ones, to their adapted organs of sense.

From Zoonomia, Vol. I Or, the Laws of Organic Life by Darwin, Erasmus

Organized charity is a sapid and savorless thing; its place among moral agencies is no higher than that of root beer.

From The Shadow On The Dial, and Other Essays 1909 by Howes, S. O. (Silas Orrin)

To us such a proverb is perhaps even more sapid than the sometimes slightly finical turns praised by Erasmus.

From Erasmus and the Age of Reformation by Huizinga, Johan