meat-and-potatoes

1 of 2

adjective

meat-and-po·ta·toes ˈmēt-ən(d)-pə-ˈtā-(ˌ)tōz

Synonyms of meat-and-potatoes next

: of fundamental importance : basic

also : concerned with or emphasizing the basic aspects of something

: unpretentious, simple

a real meat-and-potatoes guy

: providing or preferring simple food (such as meat and potatoes)

meat and potatoes

2 of 2

noun

plural in form but singular or plural in construction

: the most interesting or fundamental part : meat sense 4

Examples of meat-and-potatoes in a Sentence

Adjective a meat-and-potatoes knowledge of figure skating is all that a spectator really needs Noun an article that never gets into the meat and potatoes of a solution to the city's rising crime rate

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Adjective

Created by Ben Davies and Timothy Lee, Territory is boldly and unapologetically meat-and-potatoes television, in which everybody is gruff, sweaty and coated in a fine layer of dust, as if to reenforce the connection between these characters and the Top End. —

Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Oct. 2024 These meat-and-potatoes approaches — vaccination, access to treatment and clean air — may not be the most exciting tools. —

Saad B. Omer, The Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2024

Noun

Polls show these two men are strangers to a large chunk of the electorate, and Vance is clearly mindful of the need for that type of overview before getting into the rhetorical meat and potatoes of the evening. —

Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2024 Russia’s moves might have come as a shock, but for millennia, conquests and annexations were the meat and potatoes of state building and international politics. —

Peter Liberman, Foreign Affairs, 14 Mar. 2014 See all Example Sentences for meat-and-potatoes

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1846, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1951, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of meat-and-potatoes was in 1846

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Meat-and-potatoes.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meat-and-potatoes. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.

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