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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

sugar.

A food consisting of small, sweet crystals, principally of sucrose, obtained from sugar cane or sugar beet and used as sweetener and preservative.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈʃʊɡə/Australia, Received-Pronunciation/ˈʃɵɡə/British, Southern, Standard/ˈʃʊɡɚ/Canada, General-American/ˈʃʉɡəɾ/Scotland
  1. A food consisting of small, sweet crystals, principally of sucrose, obtained from sugar cane or sugar beet and used as sweetener and preservative.

    uncountable
  2. Any specific variety of sugar.

    countable
  3. Any of various small, water-soluble carbohydrates such as are used by organisms for energy and various other purposes.

    countable
  4. A small serving of this substance (typically about one teaspoon), used to sweeten a drink.

    countable
    He usually has his coffee white with one sugar.
  5. A bowl or other container of sugar.

    countable · uncountable
    Pass the sugar, please
  6. A term of endearment.

    countable
    I'll be with you in a moment, sugar.
  7. Affection shown by kisses or kissing.

    slang · uncountable
  8. Effeminacy in a male, often implying homosexuality.

    Southern · US · slang · uncountable
    I think John has a little bit of sugar in him.
  9. Diabetes.

    informal · uncountable
  10. Anything resembling sugar in taste or appearance, especially in chemistry.

    countable · dated · uncountable
    Sugar of lead (lead acetate) is a poisonous white crystalline substance with a sweet taste.
  11. Compliment or flattery used to disguise or render acceptable something obnoxious; honeyed or soothing words.

    countable · uncountable
  12. Heroin.

    US · slang · uncountable
  13. Money.

    US · dated · slang · uncountable
  14. Syntactic sugar.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćárkaraH Proto-Indo-Aryan *śárkaraH Sanskrit शर्क॑रा (śárkarā) Gandhari 𐨭𐨐𐨪 (śakara)bor. Middle Persian 𐭱𐭪𐭥 (šakar)bor. Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar)bor. Old Italian zuccherobor. Old French çucrebor. Middle English sugre English sugar Inherited from Middle English sugre, borrowed from Old French çucre, borrowed from Old Italian zucchero, borrowed from Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar), borrowed from Middle Persian 𐭱𐭪𐭥 (šakar), borrowed from Gandhari 𐨭𐨐𐨪 (śakara), from Sanskrit शर्क॑रा (śárkarā), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *śárkaraH, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćárkaraH, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ (“gravel”). Akin to Ancient Greek κρόκη (krókē, “pebble”), whence the words crocodile and krokodil are derived. Doublet of jaggery and sucro-. The verb is from Middle English sugren, from the noun.

verb/ˈʃʊɡə/Australia, Received-Pronunciation/ˈʃɵɡə/British, Southern, Standard/ˈʃʊɡɚ/Canada, General-American/ˈʃʉɡəɾ/Scotland
  1. To add sugar to; to sweeten with sugar.

    transitive
    John heavily sugars his coffee.
  2. To make (something unpleasant) seem less so.

    transitive
    She has a gift for sugaring what would otherwise be harsh words.
  3. In making maple sugar, to complete the process of boiling down the syrup till it is thick enough to crystallize; to approach or reach the state of granulation; with the preposition off.

    Canada · US · regional
  4. To apply sugar to trees or plants in order to catch moths.

  5. To rewrite (source code) using syntactic sugar.

    transitive
  6. To compliment (a person).

    transitive
  7. To remove hair using a paste of sugar, water, and lemon juice.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćárkaraH Proto-Indo-Aryan *śárkaraH Sanskrit शर्क॑रा (śárkarā) Gandhari 𐨭𐨐𐨪 (śakara)bor. Middle Persian 𐭱𐭪𐭥 (šakar)bor. Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar)bor. Old Italian zuccherobor. Old French çucrebor. Middle English sugre English sugar Inherited from Middle English sugre, borrowed from Old French çucre, borrowed from Old Italian zucchero, borrowed from Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar), borrowed from Middle Persian 𐭱𐭪𐭥 (šakar), borrowed from Gandhari 𐨭𐨐𐨪 (śakara), from Sanskrit शर्क॑रा (śárkarā), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *śárkaraH, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćárkaraH, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ (“gravel”). Akin to Ancient Greek κρόκη (krókē, “pebble”), whence the words crocodile and krokodil are derived. Doublet of jaggery and sucro-. The verb is from Middle English sugren, from the noun.

intj/ˈʃʊɡə/Australia, Received-Pronunciation/ˈʃɵɡə/British, Southern, Standard/ˈʃʊɡɚ/Canada, General-American/ˈʃʉɡəɾ/Scotland
  1. Minced oath of shit.

    Oh, sugar!
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćárkaraH Proto-Indo-Aryan *śárkaraH Sanskrit शर्क॑रा (śárkarā) Gandhari 𐨭𐨐𐨪 (śakara)bor. Middle Persian 𐭱𐭪𐭥 (šakar)bor. Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar)bor. Old Italian zuccherobor. Old French çucrebor. Middle English sugre English sugar Inherited from Middle English sugre, borrowed from Old French çucre, borrowed from Old Italian zucchero, borrowed from Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar), borrowed from Middle Persian 𐭱𐭪𐭥 (šakar), borrowed from Gandhari 𐨭𐨐𐨪 (śakara), from Sanskrit शर्क॑रा (śárkarā), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *śárkaraH, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćárkaraH, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ (“gravel”). Akin to Ancient Greek κρόκη (krókē, “pebble”), whence the words crocodile and krokodil are derived. Doublet of jaggery and sucro-. The verb is from Middle English sugren, from the noun.

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Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.