palate

/ˈpælət/

/ˈpælɪt/

Other forms: palates

Touch your tongue to the top of your mouth. What you're touching is your palate. Palate is often used when discussing taste in a broader sense, as in: chocolate cake is pleasing to the palate.

A person with an expensive palate likes only high-priced culinary treats. Someone who tastes slight nuances in food is said to have a well-developed palate, and someone who likes only fancy food is said to have a sophisticated palate. In reality, most taste receptors are on the tongue. But that doesn't sound sophisticated at all, does it?

Definitions of palate

1. noun

   the upper surface of the mouth that separates the oral and nasal cavities
   synonyms: roof of the mouth

   type of:

   surface

   the extended two-dimensional outer boundary of a three-dimensional object
2. noun

   the ability to taste, judge, and appreciate food
   type of:

   taste, tasting

   a kind of sensing; distinguishing substances by means of the taste buds