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
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
Turner wheeled a silver Rimowa cabin case decked out with a smorgasbord of luggage stickers.
—Leah Dolan, CNN, 29 Mar. 2024
As an arts community, Jerome offers a smorgasbord of styles and creative energy.
—Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 22 Mar. 2024
For skiers and snowboarders who dream of hitting a smorgasbord of mountains come wintertime, the Ikon Pass is like a passport to a kingdom of potential adventures.
—Brent Rose, Condé Nast Traveler, 14 Mar. 2024
The playoff dinner the night before that began with a pot of chili and ended up a smorgasbord.
—Kathryn Shattuck, New York Times, 9 Mar. 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 14 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
smorgasbord
noun
from Swedish smörgåsbord "a buffet meal," from smörgås "open sandwich" and bord "table"
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