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Definition of sweet potato
sweet potato
Plural:sweet potatoes
sweet potato Lexical Profile
CEFR
A2
Grade
3
Tier
1
Usage
Top 10k
• noun
1
The large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous root of a trailing vine, featuring smooth skin and flesh that ranges from white to deep orange, commonly cooked and eaten as a vegetable.
Example
"We roasted a sweet potato and served it with a dash of cinnamon and brown sugar."
2
The tropical American vine (Ipomoea batatas) in the morning glory family that produces these edible tubers.
Example
"The farmer planted sweet potato slips in the loamy soil to ensure a bountiful harvest before the first frost."
Synonyms
View all synonyms for sweet potatoWord Nuance & Usage
In the United States and Canada, the sweet potato is often colloquially, but botanically incorrectly, referred to as a 'yam', which is actually a completely unrelated starchy tuber native to Africa and Asia.
• Nearby Words
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.
180019102020
Data source: Google Books Ngram Viewer
Cite this Entry
Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Sweet potato. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Oct 16, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/sweet potato