sherry

noun

sher·​ry ˈsher-ē How to pronounce sherry (audio)
plural sherries
: a Spanish fortified wine with a distinctive nutty flavor
also : a similar wine produced elsewhere

Examples of sherry in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
For dressings or cooked sauces, try sherry or apple cider vinegar with a little honey or brown sugar. — Emily Saladino, Bon Appetit Magazine, 19 Oct. 2026 The Dalmore is a Highland distillery known for aging its whisky in a combination of bourbon and sherry casks, often finishing the liquid in rare sherry, port, and other fortified wine barrels. — Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 16 Oct. 2026 Another creation, the carrot bamboo, brings together vermouth, gin, manzanilla sherry, carrot, yuzu, and shiso, drawing on flavors from both Europe and Asia. — Alessia Armenise, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Oct. 2026 It’s brined, then dried with baking powder before it’s basted with roasted garlic, sherry vinegar, honey and mustard. — Katelyn Umholtz, Kansas City Star, 25 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for sherry

Word History

Etymology

alteration of earlier sherris (taken as plural), from Xeres (now Jerez), Spain

First Known Use

1584, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of sherry was in 1584

Rhymes for sherry

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Browse Nearby Words

sherris-sack
sherry
sherryvallies
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Sherry.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sherry. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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Kids Definition

sherry

noun
sher·​ry ˈsher-ē How to pronounce sherry (audio)
plural sherries
: a wine with a nutty flavor
Etymology

named for Xeres (now spelled Jerez), a city in Spain where the wine was originally made

Word Origin
It is common to name wines after the part of a country where they are made. The wine called sherry today was first made in a town originally called, in Spanish, Xeres. The English approximation of the Spanish pronunciation was \ˈsher-ēz\, spelled sherris. After a time, people thought that sherris was a plural and so made a singular form, sherry, by cutting off the supposed plural ending. The \sh\ sound symbolized by x in Spanish (later by j) changed to a \ḵ\ or \h\, so that the modern Spanish pronunciation of Jerez is even less like English sherry.

More from Merriam-Webster on sherry

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about sherry

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