dessert

dessert — noun

1. food that tastes sweet and is eaten after the main part of a meal

1.nounA2
Definition

food that tastes sweet and is eaten after the main part of a meal

Example

For dessert, Amira ordered a slice of chocolate cake with ice cream.

fronted adjunct: 'For dessert' at sentence start

The café serves a different handmade dessert every Friday afternoon.

countable: 'a different...dessert' referring to a specific dish

Common collocations
  • have dessert
  • serve dessert
  • dessert menu
  • dessert wine
  • dessert spoon
  • for dessert
Synonyms
  • pudding

    British English equivalent; refers to the dessert course or any sweet dish, not just the creamy type

  • sweet

    British informal; used in phrases like 'What's for sweet?'

  • afters

    British informal, mainly northern England and Australia; casual term for the dessert course

Antonyms
  • starter

    the first course of a meal, opposite end of the dining sequence

  • main course

    the principal dish of a meal, served before dessert

Grammar Patterns

have + dessert (uncountable, meaning the course)

a + dessert (countable, meaning a specific dish)

dessert + noun (as modifier: dessert menu, dessert wine)

Usage Note

Dessert is uncountable when referring to the course in general ('after dinner we had dessert'), but countable when referring to a specific item ('she ordered two desserts'). As a modifier, it describes things related to the course: dessert menu, dessert wine, dessert spoon.

Common Mistakes

The Sahara is a hot dessert.
The Sahara is a hot desert.
'dessert' (two s's) means sweet food; 'desert' (one s) means dry, sandy land.

Word family

  • desserts
    nounA2
  • dessertspoon
    nounB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

While 'dessert' is the standard term in American English for the sweet course at the end of a meal, 'pudding' is the usual British equivalent and can refer to any dessert course — not just the creamy, milk-based dish Americans call pudding. 'Sweet' is an informal British alternative ('What's for sweet?'), and 'afters' is even more casual, heard mainly in northern England and Australia. A British person might say 'I had sticky toffee pudding for pudding,' whereas an American would say 'I had sticky toffee cake for dessert.' Learners should match the term to their audience: use 'dessert' in most international or US contexts, and 'pudding' when speaking with British speakers.

pudding ↗sweet ↗afters

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • have dessert
  • serve dessert

Prepositions

  • for dessert

Etymology

FrenchEnglish

The word 'dessert' comes from the French verb 'desservir', meaning 'to clear the table' (des- = remove, servir = serve). The idea was that the sweet course was brought out after the table had been cleared of the main dishes. English borrowed it in the 16th century, and the meaning narrowed from 'anything served after the table is cleared' to specifically 'a sweet course'.