mouthwatering
adjective
mouthwatering is an adjective meaning “Causing one to salivate” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled M-O-U-T-H-W-A-T-E-R-I-N-G, and it appears about once in every 4 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does mouthwatering mean?
adjective
- 1
Causing one to salivate.
- 2
That is pleasing to the sense of taste; appetizing.
- 3
Enticing or tantalizing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of mouthwatering
- more mouthwatering comparative
- most mouthwatering superlative
- mouth-watering
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is mouthwatering?
Mouthwatering appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 59,387th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Words people confuse with mouthwatering
Also written: mouth-watering (one word or two).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Mouthwatering in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense delicious in taste:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | alléchant, appétissant |
| German | lecker, appetitlich |
| Portuguese | de dar água na boca |
| Spanish | de toma pan y moja, se te hace la boca agua |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does mouthwatering come from?
From mouth + watering.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).