al dente

Borrowed from Italian al dente (literally “to the tooth”).

• IPA^(key): /æl ˈdɛn.teɪ/, /æl ˈdɛn.ti/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnteɪ, -ɛnti

al dente (comparative more al dente, superlative most al dente)

1. (of pasta, vegetables, rice, beans, etc.) Firm to the bite, cooked just right.

• Also used adverbially.

• edental, latened

Borrowed from Italian al dente.

• IPA^(key): /ˌɑl ˈdɛn.tə/

• Audio:

  (file)

al dente

1. al dente

   Synonym: beetgaar

Borrowed from Italian al dente.

• IPA^(key): [alˈdɛntə]

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

al dente (indeclinable)

1. al dente

• “al dente” in Duden online
• “al dente” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Borrowed from Italian al dente (literally “to the tooth”).

al dente (comparative lebih al dente, superlative paling al dente)

1. (cooking) al dente

• “al dente”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Literally, “to the tooth”, a shortening of duro al dente (“hard for the tooth”), croccante al dente (“crunchy for the tooth”) etc. with the ellipsis being reinforced by the fact that al/alla is commonly found in these contexts to indicate dish ingredients.

• IPA^(key): /al ˈdɛn.te/
• Hyphenation: al‧dèn‧te

al dente

1. (pasta) Firm to the bite, cooked just right.

   pasta al dente ― noodles to the tooth

2. (cooking) Just right to the bite.

   cotto al dente ― cooked to the tooth

• dentale, tendale

Unadapted borrowing from Italian al dente.

• IPA^(key): /ˈal ˈdɛn.tɛ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Syllabification: al den‧te

al dente (not comparable, no derived adverb)

1. (of pasta, cooking) al dente

• al dente in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• al dente in Polish dictionaries at PWN

• IPA^(key): /al ˈdente/ [al̪ ˈd̪ẽn̪.t̪e]
• Syllabification: al den‧te

al dente (invariable)

1. al dente

al dente

1. al dente

• “al dente”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025