smorgasbord

[ smawr-guh s-bawrd, -bohrd or, often, shmawr- ]

/ ˈsmɔr gəsˌbɔrd, -ˌboʊrd or, often, ˈʃmɔr- /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR smorgasbord ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a buffet meal of various hot and cold hors d'oeuvres, salads, casserole dishes, meats, cheeses, etc.

an extensive array or variety: The company has a smorgasbord of employee benefits.

Nearby words

Also smör·gås·bord

[Swedish smœr-gaws-boord] /Swedish ˈsmœr gɔsˌburd/.

Origin of smorgasbord

1915–20; < Swedish smörgsbord, equivalent to smörgs sandwich + bord table

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for smorgasbord

In Magnolia (1999)—“a smorgasbord of pleasure, that movie”—he played opposite Tom Cruise as a nurse.
Philip Seymour Hoffman: An Actor First|Tim Teeman|February 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And so the brothers began to speed-read hundreds of biographies and books, compiling the anecdotes into a smorgasbord of trivia.
Eating With the Stars|Kara Cutruzzula|August 3, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Sara Nelson remembers their smorgasbord of friendship and fine food.
The Savory Life of Sheila Lukins|Sara Nelson|September 1, 2009|DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for smorgasbord

smorgasbord

/ (ˈsmɔːɡəsˌbɔːd, ˈsmɜː-) /

noun

a variety of cold or hot savoury dishes, such as pâté, smoked salmon, etc, served in Scandinavia as hors d'oeuvres or as a buffet meal

Word Origin for smorgasbord

Swedish, from smörgås sandwich + bord table

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for smorgasbord

smorgasbord

1893, from Swedish smörgåsbord "open sandwich table," literally "butter-goose table," from smörgås, which is said to mean "bread and butter," but is compounded from smör "butter" (see smear (n.)) and gås, literally "goose" (and from the same Germanic root that yielded English goose (n.)), which is said by OED to have a secondary meaning of "a clump (of butter)." The final element is bord "table," from Proto-Germanic *burdam "plank, board, table" (see board (n.1)). Figurative sense of "medley, miscellany" is recorded from 1948.