Definition

1. Noun:
   • A sugar-coated medicinal pill: A small, round, hard candy shell covering a dose of medicine, making it easier to swallow.
   • A sugar-coated nut or piece of fruit: A confection consisting of a nut (like an almond) or a piece of fruit (like a cherry) coated in a hard sugar shell.
   • Small silver candy balls: Tiny, round, silver-colored sugar beads used primarily as decorative toppings for cakes, cookies, and pastries.

Examples

• Noun:
  • The pharmacist recommended a cough dragee for the child.
  • She offered a bowl of almond dragees to the guests.
  • The baker sprinkled silver dragees on the birthday cupcakes.

Advanced Usage

• "Chocolate dragee": A nut, typically an almond, coated first in chocolate and then in a hard sugar shell.
  • The chocolate dragees added a delightful crunch to the dessert.

Variants and Related Words

• Dragée (noun): An alternative spelling, often used to refer specifically to the decorative silver balls or the French-style sugar-coated confections.
  • The recipe calls for dragées to decorate the Yule log.

Synonyms

• Sugar-coated pill: For the medicinal sense.
• Comfit: A historical term for a sugar-coated seed, nut, or spice.
• Candy-coated: A general adjective describing something covered in a hard sugar shell.

Related Phrases

• "Like a dragee": Used to describe something with a hard, sweet exterior that may conceal a different interior, similar to the idiom "a bitter pill to swallow."
  • His compliment was like a dragee, sweet on the outside but hiding criticism.

Noun

1. pill that is a sugar-coated medicated candy
2. sugar-coated nut or fruit piece
3. silvery candy beads used for decorating cakes