Saucy has a totally different meaning. When I describe food having too much sauce, I would like to use an adjective, however salty is not really applicable here.
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@RegDwight, thanks for correcting the tags, however originally I said "however salty is not really applicable here". By that I meant it's salty because of too much sauce and not just too much salt.– grokusMar 15, 2011 at 18:29
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Ah. I wasn't sure, actually (hence the question mark in my edit summary). Thanks for the clarification, reverting that part.– RegDwigнtMar 15, 2011 at 18:37
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what about "swimming in sauce" ? :)– nicoMar 15, 2011 at 18:50
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2"Drowning"?....– Peter TaylorMar 15, 2011 at 19:09
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Really? Meat, meaty. Heat, heaty. Grub, grubby. Fire, fiery. Hmmm ... sauce, xxxy?– Blessed GeekJul 29, 2014 at 8:29
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6 Answers
I'm not sure what the objection to using saucy is all about. Merriam-Webster says:
saucy adj
1: served with or having the consistency of sauce
2a : impertinently bold and impudent
b : amusingly forward and flippant : irrepressible
3: smart, trim <a saucy little hat>
The very first definition is exactly the meaning you are looking for. Sure, the word has other meanings, but most words have multiple meanings. If your food is too saucy, then just say so.
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1Maybe dictionary.com is not the best source for research. I looked it up and only found two meanings: 1. impertinent; insolent: a saucy remark; a saucy child. 2. pert; boldly smart: a saucy little hat for Easter.– grokusMar 15, 2011 at 20:23
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1The "objection" is that in BrE, meanings 2a and 2b are so dominant, and meaning 1 is so infrequently used, that the use of the word "saucy" (in the context of food) may sound a bit "off" to British ears.– GileadMar 16, 2011 at 4:41
How about "over-sauced"?
While the suggestion "swimming in sauce" as suggested by nico is the probably the most idiomatic option, it's colloquial and might not be the best choice if you were speaking, say, formally in a kitchen or in a restaurant review.
As mentioned above also, "saucy" is an old term meaning "pert" or "impudent." Yet, the primary definition offered by Merriam-Websters is "served with or having the consistency of sauce." So given these prior meanings, whatever solution devised will be a nonce coinage.
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Hrm -- unfortunate echoes of 'over-sexed,' especially when we've got 'saucy' in the verbal pot already. Mar 15, 2011 at 23:07
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1Are you sure? In a professional context "over-sauced" would be immediately understood, whereas "saucy" would be ambiguous. Mar 16, 2011 at 0:47
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You are probably right that in a kitchen this would be obvious and quickly understood. I'm less sure about a print review -- if it were me, I'd look for another phrase, but I think many writers could make the intent clear from style and context. So, I'm not a fan of 'over-sauced', and I think some would agree with me, but this may be the best one-word solution, and possibly the most appropriate one. (I also didn't mean to imply that I thought 'saucy' was workable.) Mar 16, 2011 at 0:58
There isn't a word for that specifically. However, in some cases you might describe something as "runny" if it has too much liquid and isn't solid enough.
If you are just looking for a contraction of "was made with too much sauce", you could describe it as "over sauced" although this is not an everyday phrase (we are simply using the prefix "over" as it can be used with any verb) and may sound a bit pretentious.
From a practical point of view, within the context of food, you will be understood if you just say "too saucy", although it's not dictionary-correct.
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That's too sad! Why can't we just overload a word like "saucy"? Runny doesn't help me here if the kind of sauce I'm talking about is sort of sticky.– grokusMar 15, 2011 at 18:25
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1Oh, we can overload, it's just the risk of being amusingly misunderstood rises in some cases, like this one. Mar 15, 2011 at 23:05
The food can be described as overflowing with sauce. If instead you say the food is saucy, well i'd guess it would be chocolate and strawberries :D
If you insist on a single word, you may try "overcondimented".
But "drenched in sauce" sounds better.
If I were served a dish with a sauce that had far too much sauce, I would call it "soupy". As in, there's so much sauce that it may as well be a soup.
http://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/soupy
