smorgasbord

noun

smor·gas·bord ˈsmȯr-gəs-ˌbȯrd

: 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)

: 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.

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

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The daylong celebration offers a smorgasbord of special events, including the new Gritty City Crawl, music, cabaret, giveaways and discounts. —

Mike D'onofrio, Axios, 13 Feb. 2025 Rather our linguistic capacity rests on a smorgasbord of physical and cognitive traits, many of them spread throughout the animal kingdom. —

Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 6 Feb. 2025 Byron Buxton Buxton has played only 736 of a possible 1,356 games since 2017 because of a smorgasbord of injuries. —

Kevin Lynn, Newsweek, 7 Jan. 2025 The smorgasbord of prop bet offerings, player props and additional betting opportunities on Super Bowl LIX will be more popular driving fan engagement and entertainment while offering more ways to win. —

Jay Ginsbach, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for smorgasbord