What does chewy mean?
Chewy is an adjective used to describe food that resists being swallowed quickly — food with a texture that demands sustained chewing. A chewy bagel, caramel, or cut of meat offers a kind of pleasant resistance to the teeth: not hard, exactly, but dense, elastic, and slow to break down. Whether that quality is desirable depends entirely on the food. Chewiness is prized in bagels, mochi, sourdough, nougat, and al dente pasta, where it signals substance and satisfaction. In other contexts it is a fault: a chewy steak is overcooked or poorly prepared, and a chewy biscuit may simply be stale. The word carries a strongly sensory, informal register — it appears constantly in cookbooks, restaurant reviews, and food packaging, where "soft and chewy" has become a near-formulaic promise of indulgence.
adjective(Of food) requiring a lot of chewing; having a soft yet resistant texture that must be worked with the teeth before swallowing.
- (of food) requiring a lot of chewing; having a soft but firm, elastic texture.
"The baguette was crisp on the outside and wonderfully chewy within."
"The noodles had a satisfying chewy bite."
"She preferred her cookies soft and chewy rather than crisp."
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Words that share this root
Easily confused with chewy
"Juicy" describes food that is full of liquid or moisture, while "chewy" describes food that is dense or resistant to biting.