special sauce

noun

A basic ingredient in McDonald's Big Mac hamburgers, a sort of Thousand Island dressing (now called Big Mac sauce by the company).

Similar
secret sauce
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Meanings

nounspecial sauce (usually uncountable, plural special sauces)

plural special sauces

  1. uncountableusuallyA basic ingredient in McDonald's Big Mac hamburgers, a sort of Thousand Island dressing (now called Big Mac sauce by the company).

    two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun

    1975, McDonald's Corporation, Big Mac advertising jingle
    1 more example

    one day you'll be eatin' a fast-food burger.... Ever wonder what makes special sauce so special?

    2001 January, Matt Groening, “Parasites Lost”, in Futurama, season 3, episode 4
  2. uncountableusuallyBurger sauce.
  3. figurativelyuncountableusuallySynonym of secret sauce.

    Synonyms: secret sauce

Synonyms & antonyms

nounSynonym of secret sauce.

Similar
secret sauce
Also see
magic saucesecret sauce
Cite this entry
APA

special sauce. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/special%20sauce

MLA

“special sauce.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/special%20sauce. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “special sauce,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/special%20sauce.

Source: special sauce on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.