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Glite Dictionary
creme de fraise

creme de fraise

9.3
A sweet strawberry-flavored alcoholic drink used in cocktails and desserts
  • noun
  • /krɛm də freɪz/
translation icon : crema de fresa
  • He added a splash of creme de fraise to the cocktail for a fruity twist.

Examples

  • I enjoyed a glass of creme de fraise after dinner.

  • The dessert was topped with creme de fraise for extra flavor.

  • Do you have any creme de fraise to mix in this strawberry martini?

  • The bartender recommended the creme de fraise cocktail.

  • She added creme de fraise to the cake to enhance its strawberry flavor.

  • For the party, he served a refreshing drink with creme de fraise and soda.

  • The recipe called for a splash of creme de fraise in the fruit salad.

Surface Forms

creme de fraise singular
creme de fraises plural

Morphology

crème + de + fraise

The phrase literally combines 'crème' (cream) + 'de' (of) + 'fraise' (strawberry), so its meaning ('strawberry cream' or a creamy/strawberry-flavored product) is directly derivable from the constituents. Even though it is a French culinary loan and can refer specifically to a liqueur in some contexts, the compositional structure is regular and cross-linguistically transparent, making it understandable to a B1 learner who knows the parts.

Etymology

Creme de fraise comes from French words crème (a thick, sweet cream) and fraise (strawberry), so people imagined a creamy strawberry syrup. That's why the name now means a 'sweet, strawberry-flavored liqueur' used to add fruity taste to drinks and desserts.