souffle

¹ American  

[soo-fuhl] / ˈsu fəl /

noun

Pathology.

1. a murmuring or blowing sound heard on auscultation.

---

soufflé ² American  

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

noun

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.

---

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

---

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

---

Etymology

Origin of souffle¹

From French, dating back to 1875–80; 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

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

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 30, 2025

Teaching, like parenting or skiing or governing or making a souffle, is an activity you can learn about from books and classes and movies, but only really understand on the job.

From New York Times • Dec. 24, 2023

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

Of course you could take a stab at some of her more complicated multistep stunners, like canard a l'orange or her souffle, I'm a big fan of her more simple recipes.

From Salon • May 5, 2022

Rearrange the ideas: This souffle recipe calls for eight eggs.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner