chop suey
noun
Simple meaning
Steamed bean sprouts served in a semi-thick sauce, and mixed with a choice of meat and/or vegetables.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
chahpsooeeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtʃɑpˈsui
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Canada and British
Steamed bean sprouts served in a semi-thick sauce, and mixed with a choice of meat and/or vegetables.
USPhilippinesAustralia
Meat or fish stir-fried with vegetables (e.g., celery, onions, peppers or bean sprouts) seasoned with ginger and garlic and soy sauce; served with rice; created in the United States and frequently served in Chinese restaurants there
USPhilippinesAustralia
A stir-fried vegetable dish, served with pieces of beef or pork in a semi-thick sauce, and often soy sauce.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: (Canada and British) Steamed bean sprouts served in a semi-thick sauce, and mixed with a choice of meat and/or vegetables.
Used this way, chop suey is a word tied to one variety of English that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a food and cooking use: everyday in kitchens and recipes.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Regional
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Uncommon in everyday speech
Where it naturally appears
- Cooking/food
- Everyday conversation
Usage note
Mainly used in British English, so it may read as unusual elsewhere.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.