spicy
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: adjective/1
Spicy is the broadest everyday term for any food flavoured with spices, especially hot ones like chilli, black pepper, or ginger. Hot focuses specifically on the burning sensation that chilli peppers produce on the tongue — a dish can be spicy (full of spice flavour) without being hot (if the spices are not chilli-based). Fiery is a more dramatic word suggesting an intense, almost uncomfortable level of heat, often used in food reviews or restaurant names. Pungent describes a sharp, strong smell or taste that can be overpowering — blue cheese and fermented foods are pungent, not necessarily spicy. Seasoned is the mildest of the group, simply meaning flavoured with any herbs, salt, or spices without implying heat. For example: 'This Thai curry is very spicy, but the green papaya salad is more pungent than hot.'
Common collocations
Etymology
Formed by adding the adjective suffix '-y' to the noun 'spice'. 'Spice' entered English through Old French 'espice', which came from Latin 'species', meaning 'kind, sort' or 'goods'. In medieval times, spices were expensive imported commodities, so 'species' narrowed from 'goods in general' to 'aromatic goods in particular'. The literal meaning of 'spicy' (having a strong flavour from spices) appeared in the mid-16th century. The metaphorical sense of 'exciting, racy' developed in American English around the 1840s, and the colloquial meaning 'angry, ready to fight' emerged in 20th-century American sports slang.