Ambrosia
noun /æmˈbrəʊ.zi.ə/ — The food of the gods; anything supremely delicious
Definition
In Greek mythology, the food and drink of the gods — said to confer immortality and divine qualities. Used figuratively for anything of exquisite taste or fragrance.
Beyond the definition
The word for food that seems too good to be ordinary. To eat ambrosia is to eat something that doesn't belong to the mortal world — the food that the gods kept for themselves.
Origin & history
From Greek 'ambrosia' (food of the gods) — feminine of 'ambrosios' (divine, immortal) — 'a' (not) + 'brotos' (mortal). The food that makes you not-mortal.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
The first strawberry of June always tasted like ambrosia to her — the difference between seasonal and out-of-season.
Homer describes ambrosia as both food and oil — the gods anointed themselves with immortality.
Ambrosia, in American dessert tradition, became a salad of fruit and coconut. The gods would have opinions.
Synonyms
Related words
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Fictional scene
Luminous Fruit in Heavenly Pavilion
An ornate bowl filled with glowing golden fruit sits on a marble pedestal inside a sunlit, cloud-filled pavilion.
The golden, radiant quality of the fruit suggests a divine status, distancing it from mundane sustenance. This fictional scene uses heavenly imagery to represent the metaphorical quality of exquisite, otherworldly taste associated with the mythical food of the gods.
Image credit: Wordspun · AI-generated conceptual illustration