veggie

veggie — adjective

1. used to describe food or meals that are made without any meat or fish, making th

1.adjectiveA2
Definition

used to describe food or meals that are made without any meat or fish, making them suitable for people who do not eat animal flesh.

Example

The café near Lien's office sells a veggie burger made with beans and mushrooms.

collocation: veggie + burger

Shirin ordered a veggie pizza with olives, peppers, and extra cheese on top.

collocation: veggie + pizza

Common collocations
  • veggie burger
  • veggie pizza
  • veggie meal
  • veggie option
  • veggie dish
  • veggie sausage
  • veggie curry
Synonyms
  • meat-free

    more neutral and factual, often used on product labels

  • plant-based

    broader meaning that can include vegan dishes; popular in health writing

  • vegetarian

    standard formal term; preferred in official menus and medical advice

Antonyms
  • meat

    used attributively: meat pizza, meat dish — the opposite in menu contexts

Grammar Patterns

veggie + noun (burger, pizza, meal, option, dish)

Usage Note

Attributive only — always placed directly before a noun naming a food or dining context. Less formal and slightly friendlier in tone than 'vegetarian', which is preferred in formal writing.

Common Mistakes

I am veggie.
I am a veggie.
When talking about a person who avoids meat, use the countable noun 'a veggie', not the adjective.
We had a veggie for dinner.
We had a veggie meal for dinner.
As an adjective, 'veggie' must modify a noun. Without a following noun, readers will interpret it as the noun meaning 'a vegetarian person' or 'a vegetable'.

veggie — noun

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

All three words refer to edible plants, but they differ in register and scope. 'Vegetable' is the neutral, all-purpose term used in recipes, nutrition advice, and formal writing — it covers any edible part of a plant, from carrots to spinach to bell peppers. 'Produce' is a collective uncountable noun that refers to fresh fruits and vegetables sold at markets; you cannot say 'a produce' for one item. 'Greens' is informal and specifically means leafy vegetables like lettuce, kale, or spinach — never carrots or potatoes. In everyday speech, 'veggies' (short for vegetables) sounds more casual and friendly than 'vegetables': parents say 'Eat your veggies!' while cookbooks list 'roasted vegetables'.

vegetable ↗produce ↗greens

Etymology

English

'Veggie' is a shortened form that came from two different sources. The sense meaning 'vegetable' (now noun sense 2) appeared first, around the 1920s, as a casual abbreviation of 'vegetable', especially in British English. The sense meaning 'a vegetarian person' (noun sense 1) and 'meat-free' (adjective sense 1) arose later, in the 1970s, as the vegetarian movement grew in popularity. Over time, 'veggie' became a versatile informal word covering both meanings.