palatable

adjective pal·at·able \ ˈpa-lə-tə-bəl \

Updated on: 13 May 2018

Definition of palatable

1 : agreeable to the palate or taste

The restaurant's chicken dishes are quite palatable.

2 : agreeable or acceptable to the mind

attempted to make physics palatable to a broader range of students

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palatability

play \ˌpa-lə-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē\ noun

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palatableness

noun

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palatably

play \ˈpa-lə-tə-blē\ adverb

See palatable defined for English-language learners

See palatable defined for kids

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Examples of palatable in a Sentence

a less than palatable beer
I did not find the idea of moving again very palatable.

Recent Examples of palatable from the Web

Despite the long-standing place of Catholicism in mainstream storytelling, there remains something unique about this moment in the Church that makes paying tribute to its visual legacy especially palatable, even appealing, to a mainstream audience.

— refinery29.com, "Has Catholicism Earned This "Fashion" Moment?," 3 May 2018
That may not be palatable to U.S. Soccer, which seems more likely to agree to certain concessions if Commisso drops the lawsuits.

— brian straus, SI.com, "Rocco Commisso Wants to Inject Half a Billion Into American Soccer–With a Catch," 30 Apr. 2018
Introducing insect protein further down the food chain may be more palatable.

— karl plume, The Christian Science Monitor, "Insect farms emerge as an alternate source of protein," 13 Apr. 2018
But uncertainties remain about the effectiveness of these programs, and there are questions about whether a return to these strategies would be political palatable.

— michael s. derby, WSJ, "Fed’s Rosengren Worried Fiscal Stimulus Won’t Be There for Next Downturn," 13 Apr. 2018
The politics of a junk food tax in the US are tricky Even the most glowing studies on the impact of junk food taxes are unlikely to make these levies more politically palatable.

— julia belluz, Vox, "Mexico and Hungary tried junk food taxes — and they seem to be working," 6 Apr. 2018
And that’s as palatable as a gourmet meal compared with everything else that’s going on in college basketball.

— nick canepa, sandiegouniontribune.com, "This is college basketball’s worst season — ever," 4 Mar. 2018
Korean food designed to be palatable for foreigners.

— anna fifield, Washington Post, "Ivanka Trump arrives in South Korea, but Seoul says no meeting with North planned," 23 Feb. 2018
The ginger beer lends a welcome spiciness while not overpowering the alcohol and the lime juice ensures this beverage is strong but palatable all the same.

— lindsey mcclave, The Courier-Journal, "These burritos are perfect for a late-night food fix. Good thing New Wave delivers | Review," 3 Jan. 2018

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

How Should You Use palatable?

Palatable comes from palate, a Latin-derived word for the roof of the mouth. The palate was once thought of as the seat of the sense of taste, so the word eventually came to mean "sense of taste," or broadly, "liking." Palatable has been used in English to refer to palate-pleasing foods since 1619, but it isn't our only—or our oldest—adjective for agreeable tastes. Savory dates from the 14th century. Toothsome has been around since 1551. Tasty was first used in the early 17th century. And appetizing has been gracing culinary reviews since 1653.

First Known Use of palatable

1662

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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palatable Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of palatable

palatable, appetizing, savory, tasty, toothsome mean agreeable or pleasant especially to the sense of taste. palatable often applies to something that is found to be merely agreeable.