secret sauce

noun

1

: a sauce that adds an important element to a dish and that has ingredients which are typically kept secret

A frank of beef, pork, and veal … is split lengthwise, coated with secret sauce, and cooked on a grill.

—Jane Stern and Michael Stern

called also special sauce

2

: an element, quality, ability, or practice that makes something or someone successful or distinctive

If leadership has a secret sauce, it may well be humility. A humble boss understands that there are things he doesn't know.

—The Economist

called also special sauce

Examples of secret sauce in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The secret sauce to successfully operating in so many markets, Ngai argued, came from understanding their customers. —Angelica Ang, Fortune, 19 Nov. 2025

Optimism is the secret sauce of American businesses and the vibrant capital markets that sustain them. —Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 14 Nov. 2025

And that’s kind of our secret sauce. —Chris Willman, Variety, 13 Nov. 2025

That difference of thought, [coupled with] the alignment in decision-making and strategy, is the secret sauce for the company. —Jennie Bell, Footwear News, 10 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for secret sauce

• albatross
• applesauce
• barabbas
• helios
• kshatriyas
• across
• backcross
• crisscross
• lacrosse
• recross
• tomas
• blas