meat-and-potatoes

1 of 2

adjective

meat-and-po·​ta·​toes ˈmēt-ən(d)-pə-ˈtā-(ˌ)tōz 

1

: of fundamental importance : basic

also : concerned with or emphasizing the basic aspects of something

2

: unpretentious, simple

a real meat-and-potatoes guy

3

: providing or preferring simple food (such as meat and potatoes)

meat and potatoes

2 of 2

noun

plural in form but singular or plural in construction

: the most interesting or fundamental part : meat sense 4

Synonyms

Adjective

• abecedarian
• basal
• basic
• beginning
• elemental
• elementary
• essential
• fundamental
• introductory
• rudimental
• rudimentary
• underlying

Noun

• bottom line
• bull's-eye
• centerpiece
• core
• crux
• essence
• gist
• heart
• kernel
• keynote
• meat
• net
• nub
• nubbin
• nucleus
• pith
• pivot
• point
• root
• sum

Examples of meat-and-potatoes in a Sentence

Adjective

a meat-and-potatoes knowledge of figure skating is all that a spectator really needs

Noun

an article that never gets into the meat and potatoes of a solution to the city's rising crime rate

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

But there’s a case to be made that Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s family drama Purpose, which has picked up steam after a Pulitzer win, is more meat-and-potatoes Tony fare. —Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 4 June 2025

Before long, former Top Chef champ Cécile is back slinging meat-and-potatoes at her parents’ roadside truck stop and rekindling old flames with her country-boy ex, Raphaël (Bastien Bouillon). —Ben Croll, IndieWire, 13 May 2025

Noun

Turnstile certainly didn’t want to write another meat and potatoes hardcore album with NEVER ENOUGH, and that was also clear with GLOW ON. —Quentin Thane Singer, Forbes.com, 13 June 2025

All the meat and potatoes of making ideas accessible to an audience. —Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 28 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1846, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1951, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for meat-and-potatoes

• potatoes
• tomatoes