DictionaryAI

vanilla

vuh-NIL-uh/vəˈnɪl.ə/

Pluralvanillas (some meanings)

12 meanings of vanilla

Practice

  1. 1
    noununcountable
    The sweet, warm taste that comes from vanilla beans, found in ice cream and many cakes.

    The pudding had a smooth vanilla taste with a hint of sweetness.

    I could detect vanilla in the custard right away.

  2. 2
    noununcountable
    A flavoring liquid made from the beans of the vanilla plant.

    She stirred a teaspoon of vanilla into the cake batter.

    Pure vanilla costs more than the imitation kind at the store.

  3. 3
    adjective
    Ordinary and a little boring, with nothing special or exciting about it.

    Like plain toast with nothing on top.

    Their wedding was a pretty vanilla affair, just cake and a few speeches.

    He gave a vanilla answer that surprised nobody.

    Similarbland, plain, boring, unexciting, dull

    Oppositeexciting, adventurous, daring, bold

    Note
  4. 4
    nouncountable
    A tropical climbing plant whose long pods are used to make a sweet flavoring.

    Like a grapevine that climbs upward, except it makes flavored pods instead of grapes.

    A vanilla climbs up tree trunks using its long stems.

    Some vanillas can grow taller than a person.

    Note
  5. 5
    nouncountable
    The long, thin bean of the vanilla plant, used to add flavor to food.

    Like a pea pod, but long, dark, and full of flavor instead of peas.

    She split open a vanilla and scraped the seeds into the cream.

    Fresh vanillas are dried and cured before they are sold.

  6. 6
    adjective
    Made with vanilla or tasting of it.

    She lit a vanilla candle to make the room smell sweet.

    The cafe is famous for its vanilla lattes.

    Note
  7. 7
    adjectivecolloquialretronym
    Basic and standard, with no extra features or changes added.

    Like a new phone before you add any apps.

    We installed the vanilla version of the software first.

    The car comes in a vanilla model with no upgrades.

    Similarstock, standard, plain, basic, unmodified

    Oppositemodified, custom

    Note
  8. 8
    adjective
    Describing ordinary romantic or sexual tastes, not kinky ones.

    She said her dating life was completely vanilla.

    Their relationship stayed vanilla, with no interest in anything kinky.

    Similarconventional, tame, traditional

    Oppositekinky, adventurous, unconventional

    Note
  9. 9
    nouncountable or uncountable
    A pale, creamy yellow-white color, like vanilla ice cream.

    Like the creamy color of butter that has softened.

    The walls were painted a warm vanilla.

    Her dress was a soft shade of vanilla rather than bright white.

    Similarcream, ivory

  10. 10
    noununcountable
    A man-made flavoring that copies real vanilla, used in many cheap foods.

    Like fake leather made to look and feel like the real thing.

    Most budget ice cream is flavored with synthetic vanilla.

    The factory produces tons of vanilla from wood pulp each year.

    Similarvanillin

  11. 11
    nounslanguncountable
    A video game played the normal way, with no fan-made changes added.

    Like a board game played by the rules in the box, with nothing house-made added.

    I played the vanilla before downloading any mods.

    Some players prefer vanilla because it feels more balanced.

    Similarstock

    Note
  12. 12
    nounslangcountable
    A person who enjoys ordinary sexual tastes and not kinky ones.

    He's a vanilla and has no interest in anything unusual.

    Most of her friends are vanillas who prefer simple relationships.

    Note

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of vanilla apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

It comes from Spanish 'vainilla', a small form of 'vaina' meaning 'pod'. The 'plain' meanings come from the plainness of vanilla ice cream.