sherry

noun

sher·​ry ˈsher-ē 

plural sherries

: a Spanish fortified wine with a distinctive nutty flavor

also : a similar wine produced elsewhere

Examples of sherry in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Today’s recipe Former cooking editor Genevieve Ko uses sherry to round out the flavors of this classic Spanish dish. — Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2026

The new whisky expands its maturation from three to five distinct cask types, including Fino sherry and Port pipes, subtly reshaping Glenfiddich's signature fruit-forward profile by adding dryness and complexity. — Emily Price, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026

Specifically, the whisky was aged in a combination of first-fill bourbon barrels, port pipes, Oloroso sherry casks, wine casks, and a small amount of Fino sherry butts. — Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 3 Aug. 2026

It’s topped with edamame, corn ribs, crunchy tortilla strips, and sherry dressing—because after a day in the theme park, a vegetable-forward entree is always welcome. — Jacqueline Dole, Travel + Leisure, 5 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

alteration of earlier sherris (taken as plural), from Xeres (now Jerez), Spain

First Known Use

1584, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for sherry

• aerie
• airy
• arie
• barre
• cherry
• clary
• dairy
• eyrie
• faerie
• faery
• fairy
• ferry

Kids Definition

sherry

noun

sher·​ry ˈsher-ē 

plural sherries

: a wine with a nutty flavor

Etymology

named for Xeres (now spelled Jerez), a city in Spain where the wine was originally made

Word Origin

It is common to name wines after the part of a country where they are made. The wine called sherry today was first made in a town originally called, in Spanish, Xeres. The English approximation of the Spanish pronunciation was \ˈsher-ēz\, spelled sherris. After a time, people thought that sherris was a plural and so made a singular form, sherry, by cutting off the supposed plural ending. The \sh\ sound symbolized by x in Spanish (later by j) changed to a \ḵ\ or \h\, so that the modern Spanish pronunciation of Jerez is even less like English sherry.