salty

/ˈsɔlti/

/ˈsɒlti/

Other forms: saltier; saltiest; saltily

Potato chips and sea captains are salty. Salty can mean literally covered in salt like those delicious chips, or just crotchety, like a foul-mouthed skipper.

You can't drink sea water because it's so salty — but it may be hard for you to eat certain foods when they're not salty enough. Colloquially, you can use this adjective to mean "down-to-earth," "aggressive," or "exciting." So for example you could describe a movie pirate who's tough and blunt-spoken as salty. The "exciting or provocative" meaning dates from the 1860s, from the sense of "giving life or strong flavor."

Definitions of salty

1. adjective

   containing or filled with salt
   synonyms:

   brackish, briny

   slightly salty (especially from containing a mixture of seawater and fresh water)

   saliferous

   containing or yielding salt

   saline

   containing salt

   saltish

   somewhat salty

   tasty

   pleasing to the sense of taste

   antonyms:

   fresh

   not containing or composed of salt water
2. adjective

   one of the four basic taste sensations; like the taste of sea water
   synonyms:

   tasty

   pleasing to the sense of taste
3. adjective

   engagingly stimulating or provocative
   “salty language”

   synonyms: piquant

   stimulating

   rousing or quickening activity or the senses