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 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

Cole – the guy at the games in the banana-yellow tux and top hat – bets that player-to-fan interactions are the secret sauce. —Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 9 June 2025

Lead With Empathy And Self-Awareness Emotional intelligence is the secret sauce in family businesses. —Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 5 June 2025

In Reza’s view, the secret sauce is certainly not having the right opinion about a piece of art. —Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 7 May 2025

May 2025 Three of Pentacles: Collaboration is your secret sauce this May, Gemini. —Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 May 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