sauce
7 synonyms for sauce, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — A liquid or semi-liquid mixture served with food to add flavor or moisture.
Synonyms
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
How to use sauce
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
tomato sauce
hot sauce
hit the sauce
"The sauce" (for alcohol) and "sauce" (for cheek) are both informal/slang uses, not appropriate in formal writing.
Etymology
From Old French sause, from Latin salsus, "salted" — sauces were originally valued as a way of adding salt and flavor to plain food.
Full origin of sauce →Frequently asked questions
What does “sauce” mean?
The word “sauce” means a liquid or semi-liquid mixture served with food to add flavor or moisture. In plain terms, a flavorful liquid served with food; informally, also slang for alcohol or cheeky backtalk.
How do you pronounce “sauce”?
“Sauce” is pronounced saws (/sɔːs/ in IPA).
How do you use “sauce” in a sentence?
Here is “sauce” used in a sentence: “She poured tomato sauce over the pasta.”
What is another word for “sauce”?
Words with a similar meaning to “sauce” include sowl.
What part of speech is “sauce”?
“Sauce” is a noun.
Where does the word “sauce” come from?
The word “sauce” comes from Latin. From Old French sause, from Latin salsus, "salted" — sauces were originally valued as a way of adding salt and flavor to plain food.
Is “sauce” a common word?
“Sauce” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A2 level.
How many meanings does “sauce” have?
“Sauce” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a liquid or semi-liquid mixture served with food to add flavor or moisture.
What is the difference between a sauce and a gravy?
A sauce is any liquid or semi-liquid mixture served with food to add flavour or moisture, while a gravy is a specific kind of sauce made from the juices and fat of cooked meat, usually thickened. All gravies are sauces, but not all sauces are gravies.
What is the difference between a sauce and a dressing?
A sauce is a broad term for a flavourful liquid served with food, often warm, while a dressing is typically a cold sauce used to coat salads, such as a vinaigrette. Dressings are a subtype of sauce associated mainly with salads.
