crème brûlée

/kɹɛm bɹuˈleɪ/

noun

A dessert of custard, covered by a brittle layer of browned sugar.

Similar
brûléeburnt creamCambridge creamTrinity cream
OriginFrench crème brûlée →
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Meanings

nouncrème brûlée (countable and uncountable, plural crème brûlées or crèmes brûlées or crèmes brûlée)

plural crème brûlées · plural crèmes brûlées · plural crèmes brûlée · alternative creme brulee · alternative crème brulée

  1. countableuncountableA dessert of custard, covered by a brittle layer of browned sugar.

    A crème brûlée into which had been blitzed those Provençal iced-marzipan biscuits called "calisson" was a crème brûlée adulterated.

    2011 December 18, Jay Rayner, “Restaurant review: Aurelia”, in The Observer, →ISSN, archived from the original on 15 Aug 2022

    Synonyms: brûlée, burnt cream, Cambridge cream, Trinity cream

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA dessert of custard, covered by a brittle layer of browned sugar.

Similar
brûléeburnt creamCambridge creamTrinity cream
Also see
brûléeburnt creamcambridge creamtrinity cream

Origin

  1. Frenchcrème brûlée
  2. Englishcrème brûlée

Unadapted borrowing from French crème brûlée (literally “burnt cream”).

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic كريم بروليه
  • كريم بروليه (krēm brūlé)dessert
Bulgarian крем брюле́
  • крем брюле́ (krem brjulé)dessert
Catalan crema cremada
  • crema cremadadessert
Chinese Mandarin 焦糖奶油
  • 焦糖奶油 (jiāotáng nǎiyóu)dessert
Czech crème brûlée
  • crème brûléedessert
Dutch crème brûlée
  • crème brûléedessert
Finnish crème brûlée, paahtovanukas
  • crème brûléedessert
  • paahtovanukasdessert
French crème brûlée
  • crème brûléedessert
German Crème brulée, Crème brûlée
  • Crème bruléedessert
  • Crème brûléedessert
Hungarian égetett krém
  • égetett krémdessert
Italian crème brûlée
  • crème brûléedessert
Japanese クレームブリュレ
  • クレームブリュレ (kurēmu buryure)dessert
Korean 크렘 브륄레
  • 크렘 브륄레 (keurem beurwille)dessert
Lithuanian krembriulė
  • krembriulėdessert
Polish crème brûlée
  • crème brûléedessert
Portuguese crème brûlée
  • crème brûléedessert
Russian крем-брюле́
  • крем-брюле́ (krem-brjulé)dessert
Spanish crema catalana
  • crema catalanadessert
Swedish crème brûlée
  • crème brûléedessert
Vietnamese kem cháy
  • kem cháydessert
Cite this entry
APA

crème brûlée. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cr%C3%A8me%20br%C3%BBl%C3%A9e

MLA

“crème brûlée.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cr%C3%A8me%20br%C3%BBl%C3%A9e. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “crème brûlée,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cr%C3%A8me%20br%C3%BBl%C3%A9e.

Source: crème brûlée on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.