Italian dressing

noun

A North American vinaigrette-type salad dressing consisting of water, vinegar or lemon juice, vegetable oil, chopped bell peppers, usually sugar or corn syrup, and numerous herbs and spices.

Similar
Italian salad dressing
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Meanings

nounItalian dressing (countable and uncountable, plural Italian dressings)

plural Italian dressings

  1. countableuncountableA North American vinaigrette-type salad dressing consisting of water, vinegar or lemon juice, vegetable oil, chopped bell peppers, usually sugar or corn syrup, and numerous herbs and spices.

    Synonyms: Italian salad dressing

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA North American vinaigrette-type salad dressing consisting of water, vinegar or lemon juice, vegetable oil, chopped bell peppers, usually sugar or corn syrup, and numerous herbs and spices.

Similar
Italian salad dressing
Also see
vinaigrette

Origin

Named by Americans in the 20th century for this dressing's inspiration from vinaigrettes made by Italians and Italian-Americans, although the present-day formulations sold on supermarket shelves are somewhat different from those origins. More at Wikipedia.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Italian dressing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Italian%20dressing

MLA

“Italian dressing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Italian%20dressing. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Italian dressing,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Italian%20dressing.

Source: Italian dressing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.