spaghetti

noun

spa·​ghet·​ti spə-ˈge-tē 

1

: pasta made in thin solid strings

2

: insulating tubing typically of varnished cloth or of plastic for covering bare wire or holding insulated wires together

spaghettilike

spə-ˈge-tē-ˌlīk 

adjective

Examples of spaghetti in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

His brother was stuffing bricks of cash in multiple places and would even wrap the money in plastic before hiding it in spaghetti sauce jars. — Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 20 Aug. 2026

And for those seeking a splurge, consider the spaghetti with whole lobster paired with a bottle from the robust list of Italian wines. — Colleen McNally Arnett, Southern Living, 20 Aug. 2026

Back at the restaurant, which was transformed into a simple Italian bistro for their Dogue cover shoot, Sansa and Bad Bunny enjoyed a spaghetti dinner worthy of a Lady and the Tramp reboot. — Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 18 Aug. 2026

The Roman pasta combines spaghetti with guanciale, Pecorino Romano, eggs, and pasta water—no cream required. — Claire Saffitz, Bon Appetit Magazine, 17 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Italian, from plural of spaghetto, diminutive of spago cord, string, from Late Latin spacus

First Known Use

1874, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing spaghetti

• spaghetti squash
• spaghetti strap
• spaghetti western

Rhymes for spaghetti

• confetti
• libretti
• betty
• chetty
• jetty
• petit
• sweaty
• yeti
• spermaceti

Kids Definition

spaghetti

noun

spa·​ghet·​ti spə-ˈget-ē 

: a food made chiefly of a mixture of flour and water dried in the form of thin solid strings

Etymology

from Italian spaghetti "pasta made in long strings," from spaghetti, plural of spaghetto "little string," from spago "string"

Word Origin

The Italian word spago means "cord, string." The suffix -etto in Italian, like the suffix -ette in English, means "little one." Added together, spago and -etto become spaghetto, which means "little string." "Little string" describes very well the shape of a strand of spaghetti. The word spaghetti is actually the plural form of spaghetto.