fino

fino — noun

1. a pale sherry from Spain with almost no sweetness

1.nounC2
Definition

a pale sherry from Spain with almost no sweetness

Example

Christopher poured chilled fino into small glasses before the oysters arrived.

serve fino chilled before a seafood course

Eli prefers fino with olives, while his sister orders sweet sherry.

fino with olives as a typical pairing

Common collocations
  • glass of fino
  • bottle of fino
  • serve fino chilled
  • fino with olives
  • fino by the glass
Synonyms
  • sherry

    the broad category name, not only this very dry style

  • dry sherry

    a wider label that can include fino and other dry styles

Antonyms
  • sweet sherry

    a sweeter style of sherry rather than this very dry one

Grammar Patterns

drink fino

a glass of fino

a bottle of fino

serve fino chilled

Usage Note

Usually treated as the name of a wine style rather than a count noun for one item. Speakers often say a glass of fino or a bottle of fino, and it is commonly mentioned as a chilled drink served before food.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Sherry' is the broad name for this kind of fortified wine from Spain. 'Dry sherry' narrows the meaning to styles with little sweetness, but it still covers more than one type. 'Fino' is more specific: it names a very dry, pale style that people often serve cold before a meal, especially with olives or seafood. If you only say 'sherry', listeners may not know whether you mean a sweet or dry drink. Use 'fino' when the exact style matters, and use 'dry sherry' when you want a clear but less specialist label.

fino ↗sherry ↗dry sherry

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • a glass of fino
  • a bottle of fino
  • serve fino chilled
  • drink fino before dinner

Prepositions

  • with olives
  • before dinner
  • by the glass

Etymology

SpanishEnglish

Fino comes from Spanish, where it means fine or refined. English borrowed it as the name of a pale, very dry style of sherry made in Spain.