hot pepper
Americannoun
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any of variously shaped pungent peppers of the genus Capsicum, containing large amounts of capsaicin and usually having thin walls.
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a plant bearing such a pepper.
noun
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any of several varieties of the pepper Capsicum frutescens, esp chilli pepper
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the pungent usually small fruit of any of these plants
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of hot pepper
First recorded in 1940–45
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Fancy cocktail napkins are a big seller, as are specialty jellies in flavors like hot pepper and cinnamon pear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 6, 2025
The hot pepper also grows wild in parts of Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico.
From Salon ● Dec. 14, 2023
What is it like in the world of hot pepper breeding?
From Scientific American ● Oct. 26, 2023
Whether you’d like just a bit of warmth, something to burn the inside of your ears or something in between, there’s a hot pepper out there for you.
From Seattle Times ● May 25, 2023
I was hoping for river prawns in my traps that day, because river prawn okro soup with hot pepper was a favorite of Ma’s, and Klenam made it just as well as she did.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
