dietary supplement

noun

: a product taken orally that contains one or more ingredients (such as vitamins or amino acids) that are intended to supplement one's diet and are not considered food

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web Taken as a dietary supplement, Elm & Rye’s libido gummies will encourage you to get in the mood and stay in the mood. —

Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 21 Dec. 2022 Because melatonin is considered a dietary supplement, not a drug, it isn’t tightly regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, and so the purity and ingredients vary widely. —

Jennifer Fields, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2022 The company has over 40 years of experience providing dietary supplement products across 60 countries. —

Dallas News, 17 Oct. 2022 The Natural Products Association opposes all of the dietary supplement provisions. —

Samantha Young, oregonlive, 27 Aug. 2022 The Natural Products Association opposes all of the dietary supplement provisions. —

Samantha Young, San Francisco Chronicle, 24 Aug. 2022 The Natural Products Association opposes all of the dietary supplement provisions. —

Samantha Young, CBS News, 24 Aug. 2022 She’s now adviser to Begin Health, a children’s dietary supplement company. —

Robert Mccoppin, Chicago Tribune, 13 Oct. 2022 See More

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

Word History

First Known Use

1967, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of dietary supplement was in 1967

See more words from the same year

Dictionary Entries Near dietary supplement

dietary standard

dietary supplement

dietetic

See More Nearby Entries

Cite this Entry

Style

“Dietary supplement.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dietary%20supplement. Accessed 29 Jan. 2023.

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Medical Definition

dietary supplement

noun

: a product taken orally that contains one or more ingredients (such as vitamins, minerals, herbs, or amino acids) that are intended to supplement one's diet and are not considered food

The study is looking at whether taking daily dietary supplements of vitamin D₃ or omega-3 fatty acids reduces the risk for developing cancer, heart disease and stroke.—

Mary Brophy Marcus, USA Today

A hormone produced by the pineal gland in the brain, melatonin also occurs naturally in some foods. It therefore may be sold as a dietary supplement in the United States under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, without premarket approval from the FDA.—

Lynne Lamberg, The Journal of the American Medical Association

… batches of a dietary supplement L-tryptophan that have been implicated in a mysterious disease were produced by a genetically engineered organism.—

Leslie Roberts, Science