gumbo

1 of 2

noun (1)

gum·​bo ˈgəm-(ˌ)bō 

plural gumbos

1

: a soup thickened with okra pods or filé and containing meat or seafoods and usually vegetables

2

: okra sense 1

3

a

: any of various fine-grained silty soils especially of the central U.S. that when wet become impervious and soapy or waxy and very sticky

b

: a heavy sticky mud

4

: mixture, mélange

gumbo adjective

gumbo

2 of 2

noun (2)

variants or Gumbo

: creole sense 4a(1)

Synonyms of gumbo

Noun (1)

• medley
• variety
• jumble
• assortment
• collage
• jambalaya
• stew
• salad

Examples of gumbo in a Sentence

Noun (1)

drew his artistic inspiration from the city's rich gumbo of musical styles

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

On her recent Netflix holiday special, the Duchess of Sussex made her mother's recipe for gumbo, their traditional Christmas Eve meal. —Janine Henni, PEOPLE, 16 Dec. 2025

Many people also mentioned other Cajun cooking requirements like crab boil (often Zatarain's) and filé powder for gumbo. —Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 15 Dec. 2025

The ham is $95 and add-on options include sausage and chicken gumbo, seafood gumbo, red beans and potato salad. —Molly Davis, Nashville Tennessean, 12 Dec. 2025

Doeuk tried her hand at making gumbo and jambalaya, and received positive feedback. —Sean Timberlake, Sacbee.com, 6 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

American French gombo, of Bantu origin; akin to Umbundu ochinggômbo okra

Noun (2)

American French gombo, perhaps from Kongo nkômbô runaway slave

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1802, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1838, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing gumbo

• gumbo-limbo

Rhymes for gumbo

• jumbo
• columbo

Kids Definition

gumbo

noun

gum·​bo

ˈgəm-bō

plural gumbos

1

a

: okra

b

: a soup thickened with okra pods

2

: any of various silty soils that become very sticky when wet