sugary
Americanadjective
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of, containing, or resembling sugar.
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sweet; excessively sweet.
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honeyed; cloying; deceitfully agreeable.
sugary words of greeting.
adjective
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of, like, or containing sugar
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containing too much sugar; excessively sweet
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deceptively pleasant; insincere
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sugary
Explanation
Something that's literally sugary is extremely sweet, like a sugary root beer float. If something is figuratively sugary, it's overly sentimental. Candy corn, soft drinks, and jelly beans are all sugary — and so is the sappy Valentine's Day card your sister wrote to her crush. The adjective sugary comes from sugar, an English word that, unusually, traces its origin back to Sanskrit. Sugar comes from sharkara, "ground or candied sugar."
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.
While sugary drink consumption has declined in some countries, intake of "free sugars" remains higher than recommended in many parts of the world and is still increasing in others.
From Science Daily • May 11, 2026
Consumers continued to shift away from sugary sodas toward zero-sugar and functional drinks.
From Barron's • Apr. 27, 2026
She's been drinking a popular sugary corner shop drink that people in their teens and 20s have been getting their older relatives to try as a joke.
From BBC • Apr. 25, 2026
This month, U.K. researchers said sugary drinks cause anxiety in young people.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026
Yes, everything hurt, but that was no reason to ignore pure sugary goodness.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
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.
