spice
Americannoun
-
any of a class of pungent or aromatic substances of vegetable origin, as pepper, cinnamon, or cloves, used as seasoning, preservatives, etc.
-
such substances collectively or as material.
Cookies without spice can be tasteless.
-
a spicy or aromatic odor or fragrance.
-
something that gives zest.
a spice of humor in his solemnity.
-
a piquant, interesting element or quality; zest; piquancy.
The anecdotes lent spice to her talk.
-
Archaic. a small quantity of something; trace; bit.
verb (used with object)
-
to prepare or season with a spice or spices.
-
to give zest, piquancy, or interest to by something added.
noun
-
-
any of a variety of aromatic vegetable substances, such as ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, used as flavourings
-
these substances collectively
-
-
something that represents or introduces zest, charm, or gusto
-
rare a small amount
-
dialect confectionery
verb
-
to prepare or flavour (food) with spices
-
to introduce charm or zest into
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
spicernoun
-
overspiceverb
-
spiceableadjective
-
spicelessadjective
-
spicelikeadjective
-
unspicedadjective
-
well-spicedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
spicesimple
-
spicessimple
-
have spicedperfect
-
has spicedperfect
-
am spicingprogressive
-
are spicingprogressive
-
is spicingprogressive
-
have been spicingperfect progressive
-
has been spicingperfect progressive
Past
-
spicedsimple
-
had spicedperfect
-
was spicingprogressive
-
were spicingprogressive
-
had been spicingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of spice
1175–1225; (noun) Middle English, aphetic form of Old French espice ( French épice ) from Latin speciēs “appearance, sort, kind” ( see species), in Late Latin (plural): “goods, wares, spices, drugs”; (verb) Middle English spicen, in part derivative of the noun, in part from Old French espicer, derivative of espice
Explanation
You can spice up your meal with chili powder — or you can spice up your room with a disco ball! Spice is usually a flavoring for food, but you can add spice to other things by jazzing them up. Spices make your food more interesting and flavorful. Something that increases the excitement in other parts of life can also be called spice, like when the rivalry between two basketball players adds spice to the game. You can spice things up when you're telling a story by adding colorful details.
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.
It’s the same thing talking about the Beatles: If you cast it like the Spice Girls, you still couldn’t have gotten four to fit together so perfectly.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2026
Indeed, Rocket Lab could make bigger rockets if space-based artificial intelligence takes hold and demand shifts toward moving ever larger amounts of stuff into orbit, finance chief Adam Spice said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
In the series’ hierarchy of importance, love comes before work, but friendship, as the Spice Girls sang, is the real prize.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2026
While BIIRD's direction of flight may have been uncertain to its members at first, founder Lisa Canny had been quietly developing the "Spice Girls of trad" concept for about a decade.
From BBC • May 16, 2026
“The Spice Girls are getting back together?” he teases.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
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.
