Meaning & use
taste
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
The flavor that food or drink has when you eat or drink it.
Grammar: Countable for a type of flavor: a sweet taste; uncountable in general.
Patterns
- the taste of something
- have a taste of something
I love the taste of fresh strawberries.
The soup has a strange taste.
This medicine leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
noununcountable
The ability to sense flavors with the tongue.
Grammar: No plural: the sense of taste.
Patterns
- sense of taste
- lose your sense of taste
Colds can dull your sense of taste.
Babies develop their taste slowly.
Smell and taste work together.
nouncountable or uncountable
A person's ability to judge what is beautiful or suitable, or what they naturally like.
Grammar: Often in good taste or bad taste; also in tastes, meaning preferences.
Patterns
- taste in something
- a taste for something
- in good taste
She has excellent taste in furniture.
His taste in music is very old-fashioned.
The joke was not in good taste at a funeral.
nounsingular
A small amount tried, or a brief first experience of something.
Grammar: Used with an and often followed by of: a taste of freedom.
Patterns
- a taste of something
Take a taste of the sauce and tell me if it needs salt.
The trip gave him a taste of life abroad.
The short course gave her a taste of teaching.
verblinking
To have a particular flavor, or to notice the flavor of something.
Grammar: Taste of or taste like describes flavor: it tastes sweet.
Patterns
- taste of something
- taste like something
- taste good
The cake tastes of lemon.
This tea tastes like smoke.
I can taste garlic in the sauce.
verbtransitive
To put a small amount of food or drink in your mouth to find out its flavor, or to experience something briefly.
Grammar: Takes an object: taste the soup; taste success.
Patterns
- taste something
- taste success
Please taste the sauce before you serve it.
The chef tasted each dish carefully.
The young team tasted victory for the first time.
Word forms
| plural | tastes |
|---|---|
| third person singular | tastes |
| past tense | tasted |
| past participle | tasted |
| -ing form | tasting |
Common combinations
- bitter taste
- The coffee left a bitter taste.
- good taste
- Her home is decorated in good taste.
- acquired taste
- Olives are an acquired taste.
- taste of success
- The band had its first taste of success last year.
- taste buds
- Spicy food woke up my taste buds.
- leave a bad taste
- The argument left a bad taste in my mouth.
Synonyms and how they differ
- flavor
- Flavor describes the full quality of food, including smell, while taste is mainly the tongue's sensation.
- palate
- Palate refers to a person's ability to judge flavors, which is narrower than taste.
- sample
- Sample means to try a small amount of food, and it can also be a noun, but it does not describe flavor.
- preference
- Preference is a neutral word for what someone likes, while taste often suggests judgment of quality.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: taste or tasty? taste or flavor?
taste vs tasty
Tasty means pleasant to eat, while tasteful means showing good style; a tasty cake is delicious, a tasteful room is nicely decorated.
taste vs flavor
Flavor is the full impression of food including smell, whereas taste is mainly the sensation on the tongue.
Practice
Her ______ in clothes is excellent, and friends often ask her for advice before shopping.
Choose one answer.
Taste in clothes means her sense of what looks good. Flavor describes food, and appetite means a wish to eat, so neither fits clothing.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “taste”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.