How to Use unctuous in a Sentence

unctuous

adjective
  • The heat from the noodles will cook the egg, melt the cheese, and create an unctuous sauce.
    Hetty McKinnon, Bon Appétit, 10 July 2020
  • That’s why ice cream is smooth and unctuous, while frozen milk is crisp and icy.
    Elsbeth Sites, Discover Magazine, 28 Apr. 2015
  • The earthiness in the cheese meets the unctuous fruitiness of the wine in a way that enhances the flavors of both.
    Washington Post, 13 Dec. 2019
  • Truth be told, the smoked or fatty meats give a lot of our food its deep, unctuous soul.
    Amethyst Ganaway, Washington Post, 23 Dec. 2022
  • The nova there is unctuous, The sturgeon’s like a dream.
    New York Times, 17 June 2019
  • The result is fish bathing in an unctuous, salty brown sauce.
    Tan Vinh, The Seattle Times, 11 July 2017
  • The dish was so unctuous, meaty and juicy and so comforting on what seemed like the one frigid night that month.
    Rachel Bernhard, Journal Sentinel, 5 Mar. 2024
  • But that uber unctuous pork inside is more than worth the burn.
    Jenn Harrisstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2019
  • Chicken adobo is best served over rice or any whole grain that sops up the unctuous sauce.
    Beth Dooley Special To The Star Tribune, Star Tribune, 27 Jan. 2021
  • Any unctuous sauce, say for a blanquette de veau or boeuf bourguignon, must be mopped off the plate with a chunk of baguette.
    Roger Cohen, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2023
  • This one did, in the form of crisp-skinned breast, a dish of unctuous rillettes, and a sauce made from the carcass in an old-fashioned French duck press.
    Brett Martin, GQ, 23 Apr. 2018
  • Its flavor is best described as beefy, in a rich and unctuous way.
    Javier Cabral, Bon Appétit, 21 July 2023
  • The best for fish are those unctuous, yellow-green oils from places such as Provence, France, or Liguria, Italy.
    Bill St. John, The Denver Post, 5 June 2019
  • While this unctuous fluid has plenty of things in its favor, there is a dark side to it.
    Tim MacWelch/outdoor Life, Popular Science, 5 Oct. 2020
  • And, just like the fabled fish, I was conned into eating these unctuous dumplings all my life.
    May Klisch, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 23 Aug. 2019
  • Avoid thicker, more unctuous types, like coconut oil, like the plague.
    Tish Weinstock, Vogue, 2 July 2024
  • Slowly braised, the meat becomes tender and unctuous, while the liquid is enriched with the marrow from the shank bone.
    Cosmo Genova, Field & Stream, 24 Feb. 2021
  • For a smoky version of cranberry sauce, J.M. Hirsch adds bacon to a sauce that gets an unctuous push from fried onions.
    oregonlive, 23 Nov. 2019
  • My first sip was a wet slap of flavor: salty, earthy, rich bordering on unctuous.
    Sam Stone, Bon Appétit, 27 Mar. 2023
  • The soil seems to come through in the wine, which in the 2019 vintage balances a bitter, ferrous backbone with unctuous flavors of cocoa and fig.
    Esther Mobley, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 Apr. 2022
  • Then it’s all topped with crispy capers that give the unctuous dish a nice textural contrast.
    Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 29 Dec. 2022
  • The flaky flatbread is served with an unctuous chicken curry or with sharp white cheddar and a dusting of cheese on top.
    Christina Liao, Forbes, 2 Sep. 2021
  • The first was loud, deep and unctuous, the second was casual — until money came up.
    Jesse McKinley, New York Times, 2 May 2024
  • Serving as the base of the dish and topped with the pig and black pudding, these unctuous, creamy beans have bits of pig trotter floating in them, bringing even more richness to the party.
    Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 29 Dec. 2022
  • Every good cook knows to let their meat rest after it’s fully cooked to let the juices settle and the meat remain unctuous at the moment of serving.
    Hugh Garvey, Sunset Magazine, 10 Sep. 2020
  • Then road riding seemed to lose some of its unctuous, depilated sheen.
    Eben Weiss, Outside Online, 2 June 2022
  • The pain aux raisins is my favorite, a tight coil of croissant dough layered with a whisper of unctuous pastry cream and jammy-glazy raisins.
    Chris Morocco, Bon Appétit, 8 Jan. 2020
  • This unctuous, golden liquid is most often seen in splits — 375ml bottles, equal to a half bottle of wine.
    Esther Mobley, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 Feb. 2023
  • It’s smoky and hot and adds an unctuous richness that’s intense yet magnetic.
    Cesar Hernandez, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 Aug. 2022
  • Will Arnett is back, and game, as April’s unctuous former colleague.
    Glenn Kenny, New York Times, 2 June 2016

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unctuous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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