soupçon

noun soup·çon \ süp-ˈsōⁿ , ˈsüp-ˌsän \

Examples: soupçon in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of soupçon

: a little bit : trace

a soupçon of suspicion

See soupçon defined for English-language learners

soupçon was our Word of the Day on 07/24/2008. Hear the podcast!

Examples of soupçon in a Sentence

Add just a soupçon of salt.
the book is filled with cynicism and sarcasm, along with a soupçon of existentialist angst

Recent Examples of soupçon from the Web

The budget plan contains a few soupcons of intrigue as well:

— patrick may, The Mercury News, "A few nuggets buried inside Trump’s new budget proposal," 24 May 2017
David Mallamud’s score (with lyrics by Dawkins) is a pastiche of styles and musical-theater in-jokes — a little music hall, a little Kander-and-Ebb with a soupcon of Mozart for the especially quick-eared.

— dominic p. papatola, Twin Cities, "‘Sneetches’ preaches, but it’s ever so much fun," 12 Feb. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'soupçon.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Culinary enthusiasts may think "soupçon" originated with a dash of garlic in the coq au vin or a splash of vanilla in the crème anglaise, but the etymology of the word has more to do with inklings and suspicions than with food. Sometime in the 18th century, English speakers borrowed "soupçon" from the French, who were using the word to mean "drop," "touch," or "suspicion." The Old French form of the word was "sospeçon," which in turn comes from the Latin forms suspection- and suspectio. Etymologists have further traced the word's Latin ancestry to the verb suspicere, meaning "to suspect." "Suspicere," as you might expect, is also the source of the English words "suspect" and "suspicion."