Dictionary

cornstarchy en · ADJ

Etymology

From cornstarch + -y.

Meanings

1. Containing cornstarch.
   • Never mind that the sweetbreads à la financière arrive in a curdled, cornstarchy gravy — the Indian pudding is unsurpassable, with layers of flavor that trickle down like a windfall of Franklins. 1987, “Locke-Ober”, in Julie Michaels, editor, New England Monthly Guide to the Restaurants of New England, Boston, Mass.; Toronto, Ont.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 23:
   • Cherie is a saloon singer who works at night and sleeps in the day, hence her pale complexion, which her [Marilyn Monroe’s] personal makeup artist, Allan Snyder, achieved by a dusting of white, cornstarchy face powder and pale pink rouge. 2009 August, J[ohn] Randy Taraborrelli, “Bus Stop”, in The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe, New York, N.Y.; Boston, Mass.: Grand Central Publishing, →ISBN, part 5 (Difficult Times), page 275:
   • For the dishes on most menus, you can usually count on excellent cole slaw, but the rest is somewhat uninspired, especially when it runs to canned peas and cornstarchy lemon meringue pie. 1992 September, Stephen Lewis, “St. Michaels—A Haven on the Chesapeake”, in Gail Zweigenthal, editor, Gourmet: The Magazine of Good Living, volume LII, number 9, New York, N.Y.: The Condé Nast Publications Inc., →ISSN, page 119, column 2:
2. Resembling or characteristic of cornstarch.
   • Cornstarch (about 1 to 1½ teaspoons per cup of liquid; allow time for gravy to cook and overcome the cornstarchy taste). 1970, John Bear, Marina Bear, “Gravy”, in The Something-Went-Wrong-What-Do-I-Do-Now Cookbook: […], New York, N.Y.: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., →ISBN, page 79:
   • You’ll get rid of any residue cornstarchy taste if you continue to simmer the syrup for five minutes or so. 1982, Steve Sherman, “Cherry Cheese Pie”, in Cheese Sweets and Savories: Pies, Cheesecakes, Quiches, Appetizers, Brattleboro, Vt.; Lexington, Mass.: The Stephen Greene Press, →ISBN, page 35:
   • Outside in front of the vet’s office, the leaves were flaky, cornstarchy, and the mealy-apple smell of domestic animal lay in the air. 2016 February, Christine Reilly, Sunday’s on the Phone to Monday, New York, N.Y.: Touchstone, →ISBN, page 152:

Forms

Synonyms

cornstarched