hot pepper

noun

: any of various small and usually thin-walled capsicum fruits of marked pungency

also : a plant (especially a variant or cultivar of Capsicum annuum and C. frutescens) bearing hot peppers

Examples of hot pepper in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Along the refrigerated sides of the produce section are loose and packaged items like fresh greens and herbs, hot peppers, oyster mushrooms, Filipino eggplants and more. —Rachel Bernhard, jsonline.com, 19 Aug. 2025

The amount of hot peppers called for here delivers a medium level of spiciness; use more or less to adjust to your preference. —The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 July 2025

Chicken in a hurry is a quick and easy chicken dinner recipe that requires very little prep work and calls for only pantry staple ingredients, including peanut butter, hot pepper jelly, and soy sauce. —Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 26 July 2025

Those include onion and garlic, vinegar, hot peppers and coffee grounds. —Joan Morris, Mercury News, 21 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1945, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for hot pepper

• leper
• lepper
• stepper

Kids Definition

hot pepper

noun

1

: an often thin-walled and small pepper with a sharp or biting taste

2

: a pepper plant of the nightshade family that bears hot peppers