acai

noun

\ ˌä-ˌsä-ˈē

, -sī-ˈē\

variants: or less commonly açai

Definition of acai

1a or acai berry : a small, dark purple, berrylike fruit with a juicy pulp that is often used in beverages or eaten raw and that is produced by a tall, slender palm (Euterpe oleracea) native to tropical rain forests of Central and South America

b : the palm (Euterpe oleracea) that produces acai berries

2 : a beverage made from the juice of the acai berry Rio de Janeiro is the city that worships health and beauty and where the healthy and the beautiful drink acai.— Alex Bellosz

Examples of acai in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Trendy in its attempt, the bowl loads banana chips, blueberries, strawberry shavings, and granola atop a bowl of sweet acai soft serve. — Alex Aronson, Redbook, "The 14 Best Costco Food Court Menu Items, Ranked," 4 Apr. 2019 Servings: 12 2 cups chopped macadamia nuts 6 pitted medjool dates 2 tablespoons honey ¼ cup dried sliced banana 1 tablespoon ground flax 1 tablespoon hemp seed 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 tablespoon dried, ground acai½ teaspoon sea salt 1. — Nicole Tsong, The Seattle Times, "Seattle restaurateur Maria Hines creates her own go-to/to-go nutrient bars for endurance activities," 18 July 2018 Other bowls will be made with the acai berry, said to be high in antioxidants, fiber and calcium. — Kenneth R. Gosselin, courant.com, "UConn Campus At Hartford's Front Street Gets First Retail Leases," 26 June 2018 Meanwhile, acai berry aficionados find fault with Costco’s version of the would-be health food — specifically, too much sugar. — Benjamin Romano, Anchorage Daily News, "Costco: Polish dog’s demise probably won’t be postponed by polemics," 12 July 2018 Costco says the acai dish will be available in all Costco stores. — David Z. Morris, Fortune, "Costco Adds Healthier Items to Food Court, Cutting Some Favorites," 7 July 2018 The acai bowl trend has hit stride in bigger markets like New York and Chicago and splattered retail districts and neighborhoods in California, Hawaii and throughout the country. — Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, "It's not quite a smoothie or a sorbet: Get your acai bowl fix at this healthy shop in NuLu," 16 Apr. 2018 Among the ones that have not: wheat germ, acai, pomegranate and goji berries. — Caitlin Dewey, chicagotribune.com, "The sudden collapse of coconut oil, 2015's favorite superfood," 7 Mar. 2018 Things are percolating downtown, though, with a flurry of brewpubs and upstarts like Miss Winnie’s Jamaican jerk house and Liquid Eatery, a vegan cafe opening in August with acai bowls, kombucha floats, and nut-milk shakes. — Adam Erace, Philly.com, "After finding themselves unexpectedly homeless in West Chester, chef and his wife put down roots at Andiario," 19 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'acai.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.