spice
Americannoun
-
spices
plural
-
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)
-
spices,
present (3rd person singular)
-
spiced,
past participle, past
-
spicing
present participle
-
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
-
respiceverb (used with object)
-
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.
See Examples For:
Eating one is too much, but adding a small bit to a dish can spice up a portfolio without causing intestinal distress.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
Building on last week’s lesson, this soup starts in the oven, where carrots, sweet potatoes, scallions, miso, hot honey and a deliberately assertive amount of spice get deeply caramelized before ever meeting the stockpot.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026
Even in sunny L.A., people crave autumnal treats; how else to explain pumpkin spice cold brew?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
For most of us, autumn means falling leaves, shorter days, returning to school and the more modern tradition of pumpkin spice lattes popping up again.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
Like evergreens and spice and old, decaying things.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
Tyler placed it between us with an elegant flourish; the steam carried the scent of glorious-secret spices.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
A note on the spices: There are a lot of them.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026
She also recommends keeping dried herbs, spices and salt available as, she says, tinned food can be slightly bland.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Employees bake bread fresh every morning and slice hefty portions of meat and cheese to order before finishing them “Mike’s Way,” with onions, lettuce, tomatoes, red wine vinegar, oil and spices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
I ground the spices to a fine powder with the stone roller and churned the milk carefully.
From "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan
The trio’s freewheeling banter spiced with humorous mayhem and mischief enchanted legions of viewers while bringing freshness to the familiar formula of news, weather and sports.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
The scent of Mexican spiced coffee brewed in a clay pot wafts through the front room.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
Einhorn speed-talked through a presentation spiced up with cartoons and music clips.
From Barron's ● May 13, 2026
Sauté them quickly in the spiced fat until just opaque, then remove them before they turn rubbery.
From Salon ● Apr. 7, 2026
“Twenty jars of sliced peaches for pie, twenty-two jars of preserves for biscuits. Ten jars of spiced peaches. I’ll do more tomorrow.”
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
Christine Idzelis shed light on how leveraged exchange-traded funds were spicing up the SpaceX trade in the wake of the company’s IPO, for good and bad.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026
During his cooking demonstration, the audience would erupt into cheers whenever he exclaimed, “BAM!” while spicing up his dishes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
There will likely be no vistas of forest canopy, no shaded glens with water cascading through a tapestry of conifers, pine sap spicing the morning air.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 28, 2025
You can also try spicing up your vanilla, per Redditor u/shazeaa: “Vanilla bean and some nutmeg to bring on the richness!”
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2025
Fat sausages sizzled and spit over firepits, spicing the air with the scents of garlic and pepper.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
