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Glite Dictionary
seasoned to the tonsils

seasoned to the tonsils

9.3
Food with a very strong taste, often more than you want
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : sazonado en exceso
  • Her chili is always seasoned to the tonsils, with bold spices in every bite.

Examples

  • The curry was seasoned to the tonsils and left our mouths tingling.

  • I like my food flavorful, but this stew is seasoned to the tonsils!

  • This dish is seasoned to the tonsils!

  • I find the soup seasoned to the tonsils for my taste.

  • Her chili is always seasoned to the tonsils, bursting with bold spices in every bite.

  • I enjoy flavorful dishes, but this stew is seasoned to the tonsils with spices that overpower.

  • The curry was seasoned to the tonsils, making our mouths tingle with intense flavor.

Synonyms

overseasoned
vsseasoned to the tonsils
4.9

Having too much salt, herbs, or spices that make the taste too strong

is intensely flavored and may be extreme but not always unpleasant

Antonyms

bland
23 2.0

Food that has a very weak taste and little or no strong flavor

unseasoned
1 4.0

Food that has no salt or spices added

How Seasoned

seasoned to the tonsils
  • Informal
9.3
bland
23 2.0

Surface Forms

seasoned to the tonsils positive

Morphology

season + to + the + tonsils

The phrase combines the transparent verb 'seasoned' with a figurative locative 'to the tonsils' that signals extreme intensity; a learner who knows 'season' and 'tonsils' can plausibly infer it means very strongly seasoned. However, using 'tonsils' as an intensity marker is a hyperbolic, somewhat culture-specific metaphor rather than a regular compositional pattern, so the exact nuance (excessive/overwhelming seasoning) is not fully predictable without exposure.

Etymology

Seasoned to the tonsils gives a picture of food so full of spice that the taste reaches the very back of the mouth—the tonsils. One popular story says that when flavor reaches your tonsils it feels 'very strongly flavored', so the phrase now means food is seasoned to the point of excess.