sherry

noun

sher·​ry ˈsher-ē How to pronounce sherry (audio)
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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Most of the whisky made at the distillery is aged in sherry casks, but this new single malt was aged mostly in bourbon barrels along with a small amount that spent time in virgin oak. Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 31 July 2025 Wagyu beef tartare topped with pickled shallot, sherry vinegar, truffle, horseradish sabayon, served with tallow toast. Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 July 2025 Their flagship 12-year-old is a masterclass in balance: gentle heather smoke, sweet malt, honey, and subtle sherry notes. Hudson Lindenberger, Forbes.com, 29 July 2025 This appealingly low-ABV cocktail—sherry typically clocks in at 15 to 20 percent—is perfect for folks who find vermouth to be a bit too cloying. Amiel Stanek, Bon Appetit Magazine, 11 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for sherry

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1584, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of sherry was in 1584

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Sherry.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sherry. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.

Kids Definition

sherry

noun
sher·​ry ˈsher-ē How to pronounce sherry (audio)
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named for Xeres (now spelled Jerez), a city in Spain where the wine was originally made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.

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