On ‘Palate,’ ‘Pallet,’ and ‘Palette’

A range of options for you to taste..

  • The palate is (1) the roof of the mouth, and (2) the sense of taste, and it’s also a fancy word for flavor, especially in writing on food wine.

Example: Winery tasting rooms offer water so that you can cleanse your palate in between tastings of different wine varieties.


  • The palette is the board painters use to hold and mix their colors. By extension, it sometimes denotes the range of colors used in a design or work of art.

Example: The artist utilized her entire palette to create the vivid sunset in her painting.


  • Pallet usually refers to a platform used for moving cargo or freight, but the word has several other rare definitions in industry and shipping.

Example: The warehouse employees were working hard to get the pallets ready for shipment.