simple syrup

noun

: a sweetening agent made by melting granulated sugar in hot water

The drink developers decided they could add "dashes" of unsweetened, natural flavor, such as vanilla or hazelnut, and give customers the option to add or subtract pumps of simple syrup for more or less sweetness (each pump of syrup contains five grams of sugar).

—Julie Jargon

I just started making a Quarter Horse … . I found it on a cocktail app that I have called Highball, and it's made with bourbon, lime, simple syrup, ginger beer, and bitters.

—Anna Kendrick

Examples of simple syrup in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Aside from buying beans, my go-to is a cortado with almond milk and — hear me out — quarter-sweet simple syrup. —Tamia Boyd, Charlotte Observer, 27 Oct. 2025

Whiskey, with its broad shoulders and oaky fullness, can be almost completely disarmed by tarting it up with fresh lemon juice and balancing with simple syrup, as bartenders have been doing since roughly forever. —Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 25 Oct. 2025

Corn Simple Syrup This compound simple syrup starts with boiling whole in-husk ears. —Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 7 Oct. 2025

Cocktails include the Caipirinha (cachaca, lime juice and sugar), Tinto de Verano (Spanish red wine, Sprite and lemon juice), and a Madrid mule (vanilla vodka, simple syrup and limes). —Jenna Thompson, Kansas City Star, 7 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1826, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for simple syrup

• stirrup