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Synonyms

sucrose

American  
[soo-krohs] / ˈsu kroʊs /

noun

Chemistry.

  1. a crystalline disaccharide, C 1 2 H 2 2 O 1 1 , the sugar obtained from the sugarcane, the sugar beet, and sorghum, and forming the greater part of maple sugar; sugar.

sucrose British  
/ ˈsjuːkrəʊz, -krəʊs /

noun

  1. the technical name for sugar

"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
sucrose Scientific  
/ so̅o̅′krōs′ /

  1. A crystalline sugar found in many plants, especially sugar cane, sugar beets, and sugar maple. It is used widely as a sweetener. Sucrose is a disaccharide composed of fructose and glucose. Also called table sugar. Chemical formula: C 12 H 22 O 11 .

Etymology

Origin of sucrose

1855–60; < French sucre sugar + -ose 2

Explanation

Sucrose is the chemical name for the ordinary white sugar you stir into your iced tea or mix into your cookie batter. There is also sucrose in honey, maple syrup, and dates. There are many types of sugar, and sucrose is one of the most familiar. The sugar in your sugar bowl is sucrose that's been refined from sugar cane or beets. Other plants naturally produce sucrose, including sorghum and date palm. Eating too much sucrose can be bad for your health — an excessive amount can even lead to type 2 diabetes and tooth decay. Sucrose comes from the French sucre, "sugar," and the chemical ending -ose.

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Vocabulary lists containing sucrose

Nutrition - Introductory

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Nutrition - Middle School

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Nutrition - High School

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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.

Tagatose exists naturally, but only in very small quantities compared with common sugars such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose.

From Science Daily • Jan. 13, 2026

Sugar beets — root vegetables that contain high levels of sucrose — are used to produce more than half the sugar in the U.S., alongside sugar cane.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 19, 2025

“When deprived of light and fed a diet of sucrose in fermentation conditions, this algal strain converts that sucrose into fat, lipids, or algal fat – oil,” he said.

From Salon • Apr. 16, 2024

Similarly, few of us indulge in sucrose by the spoonful.

From Scientific American • Sep. 11, 2023

Freak goes, "Then that shall be your reward, faithful steed—tinted sucrose and bubbles of air. Onward! Onward to the Fortress!"

From "Freak The Mighty" by Rodman Philbrick

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.