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:
His skill was perhaps most evident in his mastery of magical moles and his more inventive creations, like fried cochinita pibil head cheese with habanero ash emulsion, avocado mousse, and kumquat sauce.
From Salon ● Jan. 4, 2025
The habanero is least ripe when green, and its taste a bit more bitter and acidic.
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
“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
Biden was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris at Taqueria Habanero, in the Edgewood neighborhood of the capital.
From Washington Times ● May 5, 2023
I love tacos, and my favorite taco place is Taqueria Habanero.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 28, 2019
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
Fahnbulleh noted that both sauces rely on habaneros, and that she’s had a few batches where the peppers were “really, really hot.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 14, 2024
Lime and habaneros make this saltfish buljol, a Caribbean cod dish, taste spiky and bright.
From New York Times ● May 8, 2023
Serranos are 10,000-25,000, and habaneros, the hottest peppers most of us are likely to cook with, start around 100,000 and can top 300,000.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 31, 2022
If you're looking to experiment with different flavors, consider topping them with something crunchy and spicy like chili onions or habaneros, one Redditor suggests.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2022
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
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.
