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• souffle
  souffle

  noun

  a murmuring or blowing sound heard on auscultation.
• soufflé
  soufflé

  noun

  a light baked dish made fluffy with beaten egg whites combined with egg yolks, white sauce, and fish, cheese, or other ingredients.

souffle

¹ American  

[soo-fuhl] / ˈsu fəl /

noun

Pathology.

1. a murmuring or blowing sound heard on auscultation.

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soufflé ² American  

[soo-fley, soo-fley] / suˈfleɪ, ˈsu fleɪ /

noun

soufflés plural

1. a light baked dish made fluffy with beaten egg whites combined with egg yolks, white sauce, and fish, cheese, or other ingredients.

2. a similar dish made with fruit juices, chocolate, vanilla, etc., and served as dessert.

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adjective

1. Also souffléed puffed up; made light, as by beating and cooking.

verb (used with object)

souffléed, souffléing

1. to make (food) puffed up and light, as by beating and cooking, adding stiffly beaten egg whites, etc.; make resemble a soufflé.

   to soufflé leftover mashed potatoes.

soufflé ¹ British  

/ ˈsuːfleɪ /

noun

1. a very light fluffy dish made with egg yolks and stiffly beaten egg whites combined with cheese, fish, etc

2. a similar sweet or savoury cold dish, set with gelatine

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adjective

1. made light and puffy, as by beating and cooking

souffle ² British  

/ ˈsuːfəl /

noun

1. med a blowing sound or murmur heard in auscultation

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• soufflés
  plural

Etymology

Origin of souffle¹

From French, dating back to 1875–80; see origin at soufflé

Origin of soufflé²

1805–15; < French, noun use of past participle of souffler to blow, puff < Latin sufflāre to breathe on, blow on

Explanation

A souffle is an egg dish that puffs up when you bake it. You might make a fluffy goat cheese souffle to serve your friends at brunch. A souffle is similar to an omelet, although it is much lighter and airier, due to beaten egg whites that are folded into the other ingredients. The trick with a souffle is generally keeping it fluffy and not allowing it to fall. You can make a savory souffle or a sweet one, like a chocolate souffle for dessert. The word is French, from souffler, "puff up."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

souffle soufflé soufflés

My aunt made a dessert that was supposed to be an orange souffle.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 30, 2025

Her most popular items include wondrously fluffy souffle cheesecake, minimally sweet strawberry cake and a tender single-layer matcha gâteau.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 25, 2023

Think about old-school cartoons in which a character is making a delicate souffle; inevitably someone bangs the oven door closed and the dish dramatically sinks, folding in upon itself.

From Salon ● Apr. 10, 2023

The secret to a light, airy, textbook souffle?

From Washington Post ● Apr. 7, 2023

For dinner we had a woodcock with souffle potatoes and puree de marron, a salad, and zabaione for dessert.

From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway

In Irvine, eggs go in just about every dish at Burnt Crumbs, from bestselling Japanese-style soufflé pancakes to the breakfast fried rice, said chef-owner Paul Cao.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2025

Regarding the soufflé, Royal told The Fayetteville Observer: “The yoke of the egg is almost like butter. It’s just incredible and the consistency of a wonderful custard.”

From Seattle Times ● May 23, 2023

With cornmeal as its base, it is in the same family as cornbread, but it is baked into a soufflé, which makes it light, airy and custard-like in texture.

From Salon ● Apr. 21, 2023

The Times’s Kim Severson offers more tidbits from the book — including why you should avoid talking about the history of soufflé at a dinner party.

From New York Times ● Mar. 9, 2023

“A nervous cook can’t make a good soufflé, anyone knows that, and she’s probably listening on the stairs. Let us choose one of her doors and leave it open behind us.”

From "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson

From cakes and pies, “Ready for Dessert” moves on to custards and soufflés; frozen desserts; cookies and candies; and basics, such as sauces, creams, etc.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025

"A lot of chefs will use them in pasta toppings, make sauces. We have one chef who takes damaged truffles and use them for soufflés," she added.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2025

While soufflés are delicate and sensitive creations, they’re also fundamentally simple, consisting of a flavored base that’s lightened with beaten egg whites.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 24, 2022

In total, how many soufflés do you think you all had to make?

From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2022

"Well, instead of the soufflés you shall have some wafelen and some poffertjes!" quickly rejoined my aunt with her kindly smile.

From French and Oriental Love in a Harem by Avril, Paul