habanero
noun
an extremely pungent small pepper, the fruit of a variety of Capsicum chinense, used in cooking.
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habanero
American
[hah-buh-nair-oh]
/ ˌhɑ bəˈnɛər oʊ /
noun
-
habaneros
plural
Habanero
British
/ aβaˈnero /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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
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:
The analogy Crill uses is having a habanero pepper in your kitchen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
If you’d like to temper the heat in this dish, use less of the Scotch bonnet or habanero pepper.
From Salon ● Oct. 29, 2023
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
A habanero, the record-holder about 25 years ago, typically tops 100,000.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 16, 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
Restaurant chains from Chick-fil-A to Buffalo Wild Wings are amping up the condiments rush, recently introducing new items such as Zesty Buffalo Sauce and Habanero Hot Sauce at retail.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
In classic fashion, several Canadian franchisees that I reached out to refused to gloat about their strawberry pies and Spicy Habanero McChickens.
From Slate ● Sep. 7, 2023
Habanero peppers are extremely hot and could negatively affect your lungs or skin.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 2, 2023
Biden was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris at Taqueria Habanero, in the Edgewood neighborhood of the capital.
From Washington Times ● May 5, 2023
We then gave him half a cup of Habanero, some plantains and a cigar, and, as the dew was heavy, told him to sit by the fire.
From Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, Vol. I. by John L. Stephens
Lime and habaneros make this saltfish buljol, a Caribbean cod dish, taste spiky and bright.
From New York Times ● May 8, 2023
When Sister Amala Jose, who is 44, came from her native India, Labik excitedly welcomed her and added mangoes, ginger paste and habaneros to the shopping list.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 8, 2021
"I'm afraid my habaneros are growing faster than I can even eat them," I lamented, a state of affairs which genuinely surprised me, as I love little in life more than spicy food.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2019
Last week, I counted another few dozen habaneros sprouting in various shades of green and red on my plant, springing up like gremlins after you throw water on them.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2019
I’d soon learn that the hot sauce, made in-house by chef Mauricio Flores Turcios, is a volatile compound, an alchemy of garlic, vinegar, paprika, molasses and charred peppers, including habaneros and arbol chiles.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 23, 2018
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