smorgasbord

noun

smor·​gas·​bord ˈsmȯr-gəs-ˌbȯrd 

1

: a luncheon or supper buffet offering a variety of foods and dishes (such as hors d'oeuvres, hot and cold meats, smoked and pickled fish, cheeses, salads, and relishes)

2

: an often large heterogeneous mixture : mélange

Did you know?

Although smorgasbord might make us think of a variety of foods, the Swedish word smörgås refers to a particular food item—an open sandwich or, alternatively, a slice of bread covered with butter—which is a staple of the traditional Swedish smorgasbord. (The word smör means "butter," and gås can mean "a lump of butter" as well as "goose.") Smörgås teamed up with the Swedish word bord, meaning "table" or "board," to form smorgasbord; the word first appeared in English in the later part of the 19th century. By the mid-20th century smorgasbord was being used outside of food-related contexts to refer to something that comprises a mixture or assemblage of different parts.

Synonyms

• agglomerate
• agglomeration
• alphabet soup
• assortment
• botch
• clutter
• collage
• crazy quilt
• farrago
• gallimaufry
• grab bag
• gumbo
• hash
• hodgepodge
• hotchpotch
• jambalaya
• jumble
• jungle
• litter
• macédoine
• medley
• mélange
• menagerie
• miscellanea
• miscellany
• mishmash
• mixed bag
• montage
• motley
• muddle
• olio
• olla podrida
• omnium-gatherum
• pastiche
• patchwork
• patchwork quilt
• potpourri
• ragbag
• ragout
• rummage
• salad
• salmagundi
• scramble
• shuffle
• stew
• tumble
• variety
• welter

Examples of smorgasbord in a Sentence

every day the director has to first deal with a smorgasbord of problems before he can begin filming

Recent Examples on the Web

Pair this with a smorgasbord of charcuterie meats, hard cheeses, or with lamb and mint sauce, or with cous-cous, sultanas and soy. —Tom Mullen, Forbes, 29 Sep. 2024

With more than 200 Valley eateries, plus a few in Gold Canyon, Sedona and Tucson, this season’s event aims to give diners a vast smorgasbord of options from luxury resort restaurants to neighborhood mom-and-pop spots. —Georgann Yara, The Arizona Republic, 19 Sep. 2024

On multiple occasions, the spacecraft flew through the plumes and found a smorgasbord of chemicals, including molecular hydrogen—a potential energy source for life—and carbon compounds that are precursors to amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. —science.org, 19 Sep. 2024

Photograph: Simon Hill Europe’s premier tech conference, IFA, has kicked off and is serving up a smorgasbord of new smart home devices with a light smattering of phones and other consumer tech. —Simon Hill, WIRED, 6 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Swedish smörgåsbord, from smörgås open sandwich + bord table

First Known Use

1873, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

smorgasbord

noun

smor·​gas·​bord ˈsmȯr-gəs-ˌbō(ə)rd 

-ˌbȯ(ə)rd

: a self-service luncheon or supper offering a large variety of foods and dishes

Etymology

from Swedish smörgåsbord "a buffet meal," from smörgås "open sandwich" and bord "table"