Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One who has an ardent or refined interest in food; a gourmet.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun slang A person with a special interest in or knowledge of food, a gourmet.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a person devoted to refined sensuous enjoyment (especially good food and drink)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

food +‎ -ie. According to Wikipedia, the word was coined in 1984 by Paul Levy and Ann Barr for their book, The Official Foodie Handbook. However, Levy credits New York food critic Gael Greene with the coinage. The word was used by Greene in a 1980 article in New York Magazine.

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Examples

  • So they actually associated the term foodie with avoiding being the kind of snob they associated with old-school gourmets.

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed Wency Leung 2010

  • The first thing you learn hanging around chefs is that most of them disdain even the word "foodie."

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed Ian Brown 2011

  • The first thing you learn hanging around chefs is that most of them disdain even the word "foodie."

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed Ian Brown 2011

  • Since moving to the Silver Lake area, it's been beneficial living in such close proximity to Koreatown, what J & I refer to as a foodie goldmine.

    Archive 2008-03-01 e d b m 2008

  • Since moving to the Silver Lake area, it's been beneficial living in such close proximity to Koreatown, what J & I refer to as a foodie goldmine.

    Ma Dang Gook Soo - Korean Handmade, Knife-Cut Noodles e d b m 2008

  • The primary reason I do not like the word foodie is that, aside from the fact that there is no single, clear definition of the word, in the 1300 square feet known as The Delicious World from which I rarely escape, “foodie” has usually been interchangeable with “gourmand” or “epicure.”

    "Foodie" - I Shall Not Wear a Badge of Shame 2006

  • The word foodie itself, turns out, was borne from the very squeamishness the word can incite today.

    Thestar.com - Home Page 2010

  • Though the use of the word foodie may change over time, Baumann says, as most language does, that doesn't mean the associations attached to it will.

    Thestar.com - Home Page 2010

  • It's a word - like "foodie" - I'd like to see the end of.

    unknown title 2009

  • Vikas said ... hello trupti!! iam here from blog of asha ji!!! to say my taste budds made me to be in foodie blogs ... and one more thing brought me to ur blog is that ashaji today mentioned some of gujju bloggers on her blog ... so here iam garvi gujrati on ur blog:)

    Stuffed Bell Peppers Cardamom 2007

  • More frugal still is the concept of the ‘foodie call’ (as in ‘booty call’), coined after a 2019 study found nearly 25% of heterosexual women have gone on a date with a guy they weren’t interested in, just for a free meal.

    Unhinged: a guide to the new tribes of modern dating Becky Burgum 2024

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