tangy
Americanadjective
-
tangier,
comparative
-
tangiest
superlative
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of tangy
Explanation
Tangy foods, like vinegar and lemon juice, have a sharp, acidic flavor. Your salad will taste better if you pour plenty of tangy salad dressing on it. If you like tangy flavors, you'll probably enjoy lemonade that's not too sweet, as well as foods like blue cheese, lime-flavored Thai dishes, and plain yogurt. The adjective tangy comes from tang, "strong flavor or smell." The earliest definition of tang was "a serpent's stinging tongue," from a root meaning "to bite."
Vocabulary lists containing tangy
Tasteful Terms: Flavorful Words
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The Night Diary
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Words for Cheese Writers
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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.
See Examples For:
It’s sweet, tangy, and pickley—the perfect complement to backyard cookouts.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
Airplane cabins’ lower humidity levels can diminish passengers’ ability to taste and smell, leaving light wines tasting like water, or highly acidic wines tasting sour and overly tangy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Soon, this liquid ferments into a tangy beverage with a touch of viscosity, somewhat like Mexico’s pulque.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
The McRib, also offered on a limited-time basis, is described as “seasoned boneless pork dipped in a tangy BBQ sauce, topped with slivered onions and tangy pickles.”
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 29, 2026
The pastry covering offers muted flavor before the spiced potatoes explode in taste, tangy and hot.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
The flavor becomes slightly tangier, slightly more complex, especially when paired with seeds, herbs, or sharp cheese.
From Salon ● May 28, 2026
My meal was objectively good — like a tangier, denser breakfast burrito.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2023
The apples could have been a little tangier and with more bite, but it was still one of my favorite pies from the tasting.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 18, 2021
Tzatziki, which you may have encountered as raw garlic and dill suspended in yogurt, is thicker, creamier and tangier.
From New York Times ● Jun. 28, 2021
She’s famed for her shimmering upper voice and spun-sugar high notes, but Schwanewilms’s tangier, more forthright middle and lower registers proved just as distinctive, as did her word-specific treatment of song texts.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2017
Are they excessively frosted with the tangiest, richest cream cheese icing of all time?
From Salon ● Dec. 21, 2021
Blanchett’s amusingly mannered turn is the tangiest thing here, though it’s hard to defend the surprise Golden Globe nomination she won for this.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 18, 2020
Mr. Shelton himself wrote the book, which naturally repurposes much of the tangiest dialogue and the plot from the movie.
From New York Times ● Sep. 16, 2014
Unaccountably, Flynn — who adapted her own book for the screen — has left some of her tangiest provocations either entirely unplumbed or superficially pinged.
From Washington Post
His tangiest item was a seldom-played piano concerto, the only one written by England's late, blind Frederick Delius, who once lived in Florida.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
