sargasso

noun

sar·​gas·​so sär-ˈga-(ˌ)sō 

plural sargassos

1

: gulfweed, sargassum

2

: a mass of floating vegetation and especially sargassums

Examples of sargasso in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Beaches at Punta Mita are long, quiet and free of the sargasso that chokes other waterways in Mexico. — Winston Ross, Forbes.com, 31 Mar. 2026

From May to October, Tulum, like the rest of the Caribbean, suffers from hard-to-manage quantities of sargasso seaweed. — Jamie Ditaranto, Travel + Leisure, 15 Apr. 2023

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Portuguese sargaço, apparently the same word as sargaço, sargaça "the flowering plant Halimium lasianthum, related to the rockrose," of uncertain origin

Note: Traced by Coromines (Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico) along with Spanish jaguarzo to a putative Mozarabic *xaugaçro, going back to Latin salicastrum, a plant of uncertain identity named by Pliny.

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for sargasso

• basso
• lasso
• paso

Kids Definition

sargasso

noun

sar·​gas·​so sär-ˈgas-ō 

plural sargassos

1

: sargassum

2

: a mass of floating plants and especially sargassums