smorgasbord
noun
Did you know?
Although smorgasbord might make us think of a variety of foods, the Swedish word smörgås refers to a particular food item—an open sandwich or, alternatively, a slice of bread covered with butter—which is a staple of the traditional Swedish smorgasbord. (The word smör means "butter," and gås can mean "a lump of butter" as well as "goose.") Smörgås teamed up with the Swedish word bord, meaning "table" or "board," to form smorgasbord; the word first appeared in English in the later part of the 19th century. By the mid-20th century smorgasbord was being used outside of food-related contexts to refer to something that comprises a mixture or assemblage of different parts.
Examples of smorgasbord in a Sentence
Anna Lee Iijima, Chicago Tribune, 23 Apr. 2025
While our eyes and ears each process information related to light or sound, touch concerns a smorgasbord of stimuli, including pokes, pulls, puffs, caresses and vibrations, as well as a range of temperatures and chemicals, such as capsaicin in chili peppers or menthol in mint.
—Ariel Bleicher, Quanta Magazine, 16 Apr. 2025
Rethinking Employee Well-Being Today, companies offer a smorgasbord of wellness perks, including personal days, gym memberships, counseling and more.
—Nenad Lazarevic, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025
On a night that the frontcourt duo of Tyler Bilodeau and Eric Dailey Jr. continued to provide a smorgasbord of offense for the Bruins, Mack was their leading scorer on the way to an 84-70 victory over Idaho State at Pauley Pavilion.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Smorgasbord.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smorgasbord. Accessed 10 May. 2025.
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smorgasbord
noun
from Swedish smörgåsbord "a buffet meal," from smörgås "open sandwich" and bord "table"
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