sherry

noun

sher·​ry ˈsher-ē 

plural sherries

: a Spanish fortified wine with a distinctive nutty flavor

also : a similar wine produced elsewhere

Examples of sherry in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Amoroso is oloroso sherry sweetened with either Pedro Ximénez or moscatel. — David Thomas Tao, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026

It’s topped with edamame, corn ribs, crunchy tortilla strips, and sherry dressing—because after a day in the theme park, a vegetable-forward entree is always welcome. — Jacqueline Dole, Travel + Leisure, 5 July 2026

That bourbon was split into parcels that were finished for 12 to 16 months in Oloroso sherry, muscatel, apple brandy, and Tokaji wine barrels. — Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 2 July 2026

Back to fine dining, there’s chef-restaurateur Ken Oringer’s Toro, where visitors from near and far wait for hours to enjoy the Barcelona-style tapas and pintxos, and Spanish wines and sherries. — Shannon McMahon, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

alteration of earlier sherris (taken as plural), from Xeres (now Jerez), Spain

First Known Use

1584, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for sherry

• aerie
• airy
• arie
• barre
• cherry
• clary
• dairy
• eyrie
• faerie
• faery
• fairy
• ferry

Kids Definition

sherry

noun

sher·​ry ˈsher-ē 

plural sherries

: a wine with a nutty flavor

Etymology

named for Xeres (now spelled Jerez), a city in Spain where the wine was originally made

Word Origin

It is common to name wines after the part of a country where they are made. The wine called sherry today was first made in a town originally called, in Spanish, Xeres. The English approximation of the Spanish pronunciation was \ˈsher-ēz\, spelled sherris. After a time, people thought that sherris was a plural and so made a singular form, sherry, by cutting off the supposed plural ending. The \sh\ sound symbolized by x in Spanish (later by j) changed to a \ḵ\ or \h\, so that the modern Spanish pronunciation of Jerez is even less like English sherry.