habanero

American  

[hah-buh-nair-oh] / ˌhɑ bəˈnɛər oʊ /

noun

plural

habaneros

1. an extremely pungent small pepper, the fruit of a variety of Capsicum chinense, used in cooking.

---

Habanero British  

/ aβaˈnero /

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Havana

---

Etymology

Origin of habanero

From Spanish chile habanero “chili from Havana”

Explanation

A habanero is a small, extremely hot pepper. Habaneros come in various colors, ranging from green to dark red, but you can't tell how hot a habanero is until you taste it. The habanero was once declared the hottest chile by Guiness World Records, but it was eventually overtaken by even spicier peppers. Habaneros have a deceptively sweet initial flavor, with their intense heat increasing over several minutes and often lasting as long as an hour. The habanero was named for the Cuban city of Havana, or La Habana in Spanish.

Example Sentences

The habanero tastes fruity, citrusy and flowery before it hits you with a lingering kick that delightfully tickles the tongue.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 15, 2024

For comparison, a habanero pepper typically hits 100,000 Scoville heat units, but Pepper X registers at 2.69 million units.

From BBC • Oct. 17, 2023

The only thing that was missing, I said, was the habanero salsa that typically accompanies Yucateco cooking.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 6, 2023

Whitley estimates he lost a total of "six thousand eggplants, four thousand bell peppers, one thousand habanero and five hundred tomatoes, all under water."

From Salon • Aug. 17, 2023

“Do you want the habanero pepper or the bag of magazines? Do you want to get caught while taking out our Special friend? Or save a precious piece of human heritage from these barbarians?”

From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld