spicy, a.
(ˈspaɪsɪ)
Also 6 spycye, 8–9 spicey.
[f. spice n.]
1. Having the characteristic qualities of spice; of the nature of spice.
| 1562 Turner Herbal ii. (1568) 50 The shel smelleth well, and is spycye, not onely in smell, but also in taste. 1626 Bacon Sylva §644 So Fennell-seeds are sweet before they ripen, and after grow spicy. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 640 Whence Merchants bring Thir spicie Drugs. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 112 The herbs were of a spicy kind, and had a most pleasant agreeable taste. 1789 W. Buchan Dom. Med. (1790) 431 The diet must be..seasoned with spicy and aromatic vegetables. 1806 A. Hunter Culina (ed. 3) 125 The French Cooks make a spicey mixture that does not discover a predominancy of any one of the spices over the others. 1833 H. Martineau Cinnamon & Pearls iii. 54 The sun could penetrate to the pure white sand from which the spicy stems sprang. |
| fig. 1646 J. Hall Poems 37 When age shall..all that Red remove That on thy spicy lip now ly's. 1847 Emerson Poems, Monadnoc Wks. (Bohn) I. 438 Fountain-drop of spicier worth Than all the vintage of the earth. |
b. Flavoured or mixed with spice.
| 1632 Milton L'Allegro 100 The Spicy Nut-brown Ale. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. i. 259 Here his poor bird th'inhuman cocker brings,..With spicy food th'impatient spirit feeds. |
2. Having the fragrance of spice; sweet-scented, aromatic:
a. Of flowers.
| 1765 Cath. Talbot Lett. (1808) II. 21 Here [there is] a gale of spicy pinks, here the breath of lillies. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xiii, The spicy myrtle sent forth all its fragrance. 1830 Tennyson Poet's Mind 13 Holy water will I pour Into every spicy flower Of the laurel-shrubs. 1845–50 A. H. Lincoln Lect. Bot. 105/2 Gaultheria procumbens (spicy wintergreen). 1867 A. J. Wilson Vashti xxiv, An exquisitely beautiful and fragrant bouquet..fringed daintily with spicy geranium leaves. |
b. Of air, breezes, etc.
| 1650 Vaughan Silex Scint. (1885) 51 Calm streams; Joyes full, and true; Fresh, spicie mornings. 1712 Pope Messiah 27 See spicy clouds from lowly Saron rise. 1713 ― Windsor For. 392 Led by new stars, and borne by spicy gales! 1820 Keats Hyperion i. 186 When he would taste the spicy wreaths Of incense. 1855 Browning Fra Lippo 340 Tasting the air this spicy night which turns The unaccustomed head like Chianti wine! |
3. Containing or producing, abounding in, spices.
| 1648 Crashaw Poems (1904) 144 A fragrant Breath suckt from the spicy nest O' th' precious Phœnix. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 162 As when..North-East windes blow Sabean Odours from the spicie shoare Of Arabie the blest. 1746 Hervey Refl. Flower-Garden 43 All the Odours of the spicy East. 1781 Cowper Charity 442 The stores [which] The sun matures on India's spicy shores. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab viii. 64 Fragrant zephyrs there from spicy isles Ruffle the placid ocean-deep. |
b. Consisting of spice; conveying spice.
| 1712 W. King Brit. Pallad. 39 Restore the spicy traffick of the East. 1840 Hood Up Rhine 31 Masts of spicy vessels From distant Surinam. |
4. Of qualities: Appropriate to, or characteristic of, spices.
| 1652 Crashaw Carmen Deo Nostro Poems (1904) 197 O dissipate thy spicy Powres. 1728 Chambers Cycl., Zeodary..for its spicy Warmth is commended in Cholics. 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet in Aliments, etc. i. 244 Burnet, astringent, with a gentle spicy Quality. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 115 Spikenard's spicy smell. 1883 Cent. Mag. Oct. 814/2 The great variety of flowers and their spicy flavour. |
† 5. Sc. (See
quots.)
Obs.| 1768 [Sir D. Dalrymple] Bannatyne Poems 276 Thus a spicy man is still used for one self-conceited and proud. 1808 Jamieson, Spicy, proud, testy. |
6. slang. a. Full of spirit, smartness, or ‘go’.
| 1828 Sporting Mag. (N.S.) XXI. 324 We had a remarkably spicy team out of town. 1829 Ibid. XXIII. 291 Four little spicy devils, it would be difficult for anything I should think to catch. 1858–61 E. B. Ramsay Remin. vi. (1870) 238 It..requires to be performed with a particular and spicy dexterity of hand. 1898 Wollocombe From Morn till Eve viii. 196 A well-appointed drag appeared with its spicy team stepping well together. |
b. Smart-looking; neat. Also as
adv.| 1846 Huxley in L. Huxley Life (1900) I. ii. 28 The spicy oilcloth..on the floor looks most respectable. 1854 F. E. Smedley H. Coverdale's Courtsh. i, The fortunate possessor of a spicy dog-cart, a blood mare to run in it. 1859 Meredith R. Feveral xxix, That young Tom! He've come to town dressed that spicy. |
7. Of writing or discourse: Smart and pointed; pungent; having a flavour of the sensational or scandalous; somewhat improper.
| 1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & W. li, The articles were so clever, and so very ‘spicy’. 1848 Punch XV. 62, I wish you would say something spicy about the new regulation. 1891 Farrar Darkn. & Dawn xxvi, It is composed of the spiciest libels against every senator of note whom he ventures to attack. |
8. Exciting, exhilarating.
| 1853 Kane Grinnell Exped. xxxvii. (1854) 335 The spicy tingling of a crisis. |
9. Comb., as
spicy-looking,
spicy-smelling.
| 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxxvii, A warming and spicy-smelling balsam. 1850 F. E. Smedley F. Fairlegh (1894) 4 A spicy-looking nag. 1901 Wide World Mag. VI. 469/2 It is planted thick with spicy-smelling pines and firs. |