smorgasbord
noun
Did you know?
Although smorgasbord might make us think of a variety of foods, the Swedish word smörgås refers to a particular food item—an open sandwich or, alternatively, a slice of bread covered with butter—which is a staple of the traditional Swedish smorgasbord. (The word smör means "butter," and gås can mean "a lump of butter" as well as "goose.") Smörgås teamed up with the Swedish word bord, meaning "table" or "board," to form smorgasbord; the word first appeared in English in the later part of the 19th century. By the mid-20th century smorgasbord was being used outside of food-related contexts to refer to something that comprises a mixture or assemblage of different parts.
Synonyms
- agglomerate
- agglomeration
- alphabet soup
- assortment
- botch
- clutter
- collage
- crazy quilt
- farrago
- gallimaufry
- grab bag
- gumbo
- hash
- hodgepodge
- hotchpotch
- jambalaya
- jumble
- jungle
- litter
- macédoine
- medley
- mélange
- menagerie
- miscellanea
- miscellany
- mishmash
- mixed bag
- montage
- motley
- muddle
- olio
- olla podrida
- omnium-gatherum
- pastiche
- patchwork
- patchwork quilt
- potpourri
- ragbag
- ragout
- rummage
- salad
- salmagundi
- scramble
- shuffle
- stew
- tumble
- variety
- welter
Examples of smorgasbord in a Sentence
Lauren Warnecke, Chicago Tribune, 23 May 2024
The mountain ranges offer bountiful expanses of what the trogons need, MacFarland said: oak and sycamore tree cavities for nests, and a smorgasbord of insect life that erupts from both winter and summer rainy seasons.
—Brandon Loomis, The Arizona Republic, 20 May 2024
The ease with which Cohn tosses out anti-gay slurs while denying his own homosexuality is just one dish in a smorgasbord of double standards.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 May 2024
Since Armstead, who turns 33 in July, doesn’t participate in the field work during the offseason program and sits out most of training camp and the exhibition season, Paul will inherit a smorgasbord of snaps that should help speed up his development.
—Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 13 May 2024
Putting his own spin on Suits These long days blurred into short years are a smorgasbord of indelible core memories, exhaustion and methodical puzzling of career opportunities: more is more.
—Andrea Mandell, Peoplemag, 9 May 2024
Ambling along trails forged by elephants and hippos over countless generations offers a sensorial smorgasbord.
—Alexandra Kirkman, Fortune, 6 Apr. 2024
There are over 3,000 slots + table games, including a veritable smorgasbord of blackjack variants.
—Sponsored Content, The Mercury News, 5 Mar. 2024
Swedes popularized the buffet in America with a revolving smorgasbord at the 1939 World’s Fair.
—Lauren Collins, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'smorgasbord.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near smorgasbord
Cite this Entry
“Smorgasbord.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smorgasbord. Accessed 28 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
smorgasbord
noun
from Swedish smörgåsbord "a buffet meal," from smörgås "open sandwich" and bord "table"
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