dry goods

plural noun

ˈdrī-ˌgu̇dz 

1

: grocery items (such as tobacco, sugar, flour, and coffee) that do not contain liquid

2

: textiles, ready-to-wear clothing, and notions as distinguished especially from hardware and groceries

Examples of dry goods in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Visually appealing storage containers Barnhart suggests using beautiful baskets or clear containers to group together things like snacks and dry goods. — Gabriela Ulloa, Architectural Digest, 4 Nov. 2026

Zoland Asian Market, 7613 NW Prairie View Road The second Asian grocery store location boasts a sprawling 21,000 square feet of produce, meats, frozen food and dry goods. — Noelle Alviz-Gransee, Kansas City Star, 3 Nov. 2026

Along with storing full-length pasta, these slim containers can be used to store ingredients and dry goods like sugar, coffee beans, or bags of loose-leaf tea on the countertop in style. — Caley Sturgill, Southern Living, 29 Oct. 2026

Like many dry goods, flour may lose quality over time, but moisture is the bigger concern here. — Jamie Cuccinelli, Martha Stewart, 26 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1657, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for dry goods

• backwoods
• childhoods
• falsehoods
• flatwoods
• hardwoods
• priesthoods
• redwoods
• softwoods
• brotherhoods
• cottonwoods
• likelihoods
• livelihoods

Kids Definition

dry goods

plural noun

ˈdrī-ˌgu̇dz 

: cloth goods (as fabrics, lace, and ribbon)