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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

spicy.

Of, pertaining to, or containing spice.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈspaɪsi/
  1. Of, pertaining to, or containing spice.

    He prepared a spicy casserole.
  2. Of a flavor, provoking a burning sensation due to the presence of capsaicin or a similar chemical.

    This curry is too spicy for me. I can't eat it.
  3. Of a food, flavor, or odor, tangy, zesty, or pungent.

    She breathed in the strong, spicy aroma.
  4. Of an expression or behavior, vigorous; colorful; stimulating.

    He is known for his spicy political commentary.
  5. Scandalous.

    idiomatic · informal
  6. Risky; mildly aggressive or dangerous.

    Internet
    Look at the little wildcub! That's one spicy ball of fur.
  7. Risqué, sexy, racy; mildly pornographic.

    Internet
    I don't want my children to see the spicy images on this web site.
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti Proto-Italic *spekjō Latin speciō Proto-Italic *-jēs Latin -iēs Late Latin speciēs Old French espicebor. Anglo-Norman specebor. Middle English spice English spic(e) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English spicy From spic(e) + -y. First attested in the 16th century.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.