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

Rather than a variation on Thousand Island, what’s become the go-to spread for burgers across the city, Pool adds a dollop of hot pepper relish to her burgers. —Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2025

Some repel deer with a disagreeable taste, such as hot pepper. —Luke Miller, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Nov. 2024

But even the Carolina reaper pales in comparison to Pepper X, the Guinness World Record holder for hottest hot pepper, ranking in at a bear spray-like 2,693,000 SHUs. —Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 14 May 2025

The Fat Tony sandwich ($16), mounted with mortadella, salami cotto, city ham, provolone, mayo, hot pepper tapenade, lettuce and onion, is terrific. —John Mariani, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 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