SAVORY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does savory mean? 

• SAVORY (noun)
  The noun SAVORY has 4 senses:

1. any of several aromatic herbs or subshrubs of the genus Satureja having spikes of flowers attractive to bees

2. dwarf aromatic shrub of Mediterranean regions

3. either of two aromatic herbs of the mint family

4. an aromatic or spicy dish served at the end of dinner or as an hors d'oeuvre

  Familiarity information: SAVORY used as a noun is uncommon.

• SAVORY (adjective)
  The adjective SAVORY has 3 senses:

1. morally wholesome or acceptable

2. having an agreeably pungent taste

3. pleasing to the sense of taste

  Familiarity information: SAVORY used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SAVORY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of several aromatic herbs or subshrubs of the genus Satureja having spikes of flowers attractive to bees

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("savory" is a kind of...):

herb; herbaceous plant (a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "savory"):

Satureia hortensis; Satureja hortensis; summer savory (erect annual herb with oval leaves and pink flowers; used to flavor e.g. meats or soups or salads; southeastern Europe and naturalized elsewhere)

Satureia montana; Satureja montana; winter savory (erect perennial subshrub having pink or white flowers and leathery leaves with a flavor of thyme; southern Europe)

Holonyms ("savory" is a member of...):

genus Satureia; genus Satureja; Satureia; Satureja (savory)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Dwarf aromatic shrub of Mediterranean regions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

Micromeria juliana; savory

Hypernyms ("savory" is a kind of...):

herb; herbaceous plant (a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests)

Holonyms ("savory" is a member of...):

genus Micromeria; Micromeria (large genus of fragrant chiefly Old World herbs)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Either of two aromatic herbs of the mint family

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

savory; savoury

Hypernyms ("savory" is a kind of...):

herb (aromatic potherb used in cookery for its savory qualities)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "savory"):

summer savory; summer savoury (herb with delicately flavored leaves with many uses)

winter savory; winter savoury (resinous leaves used in stews and stuffings and meat loaf)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An aromatic or spicy dish served at the end of dinner or as an hors d'oeuvre

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

savory; savoury

Hypernyms ("savory" is a kind of...):

dainty; delicacy; goody; kickshaw; treat (something considered choice to eat)

Derivation:

savory (pleasing to the sense of taste)

savory (having an agreeably pungent taste)

• SAVORY (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Morally wholesome or acceptable

Synonyms:

savory; savoury

Context example:

a past that was scarcely savory

Antonym:

unsavory (morally offensive)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Having an agreeably pungent taste

Synonyms:

piquant; savory; savoury; zesty

Similar:

tasty (pleasing to the sense of taste)

Derivation:

savoriness (having an appetizing flavor)

savory (an aromatic or spicy dish served at the end of dinner or as an hors d'oeuvre)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Pleasing to the sense of taste

Synonyms:

mouth-watering; savory; savoury

Similar:

appetising; appetizing (appealing to or stimulating the appetite especially in appearance or aroma)

Derivation:

savoriness (having an appetizing flavor)

savory (an aromatic or spicy dish served at the end of dinner or as an hors d'oeuvre)

 Context examples 

By St. James! a blind man might find the place, for one has but to get in the wind from it, and follow the savory smell.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"The husband seems then to have had a not very savory reputation in San Francisco?"

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

By the apple of Eve! cried the fat knight, it appears to me that this wind brings a very savory smell of garlic and of onions from their cooking-kettles.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Whilst the song had been singing Dame Eliza and the maid had placed a board across two trestles, and had laid upon it the knife, the spoon, the salt, the tranchoir of bread, and finally the smoking dish which held the savory supper.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The none too savory ramifications by which Ella Kaye, the newspaper woman, played Madame de Maintenon to his weakness and sent him to sea in a yacht, were common knowledge to the turgid journalism of 1902.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)