spicy
part of speech
adjective (spicy, spicier, spiciest); noun spiciness
meaning for a pupil
1) Spicy food has a strong, hot or rich taste because it contains spices such as chilli or pepper. tree →
2) (informal) A spicy story or piece of news is a bit shocking, exciting or naughty. tree →
3) Spicy can also describe a sweet, warm smell like that of spices. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life it describes food: mild, medium, spicy; it warns that food may burn your mouth. In stories and gossip, spicy news is exciting and maybe rude. Phrases: spicy food, a bit spicy, too spicy, spicy gossip.
examples
- This curry is too spicy for me. tree →
- Do you want the mild sauce or the spicy one? tree →
- Drink some milk if your mouth burns from spicy food. tree →
- Chilli makes the soup spicier. tree →
- The spiciest wings made Dad's eyes water. tree →
- She told me some spicy gossip about the new teacher. tree →
- Spicy food is popular in many countries. tree →
note
Comparative: spicier, spiciest (y changes to i). «Spicy» often means «hot» in taste, not temperature: a cold salsa can still be spicy. «Hot» can mean either, so «hot soup» can be confusing.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «spicy» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.