How to say "spicy" in Japanese

• 辛いからいJLPT N5approx.Common
  i-adjectiveThe everyday word for the taste sense: food that is hot from chili, pepper, or similar spices. When you want to say a dish is spicy, this is the word you want.
  私は辛からい食物しょくもつはあまり好すきではない。↗

  I don't care too much for hot food.
• スパイシー
  na-adjectiveA loanword covering the same taste sense, for food seasoned with spices. It is less common than 辛い, which is the word you will usually want for a hot-tasting dish.
• ピリ辛ピリから
  no-adjectiveCovers a light, piquant kind of spiciness: a dish that tingles with heat but is not fiercely hot. Typical of descriptions of food with a pleasantly sharp kick.
• 艶っぽいつやっぽい
  i-adjectiveNot about taste at all: this is the figurative spicy of a risqué story or suggestive charm, close to romantic or coquettish. It is the wrong choice for food.

Use 「辛い」 for hot-tasting food, 「スパイシー」 as a loanword for spiced flavor, 「ピリ辛」 for mildly piquant heat, and 「艶っぽい」 only for the figurative sense of risqué or suggestive.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 辛いからいspicy
• スパイシーspicy
• ピリ辛ピリからspicy
• 艶っぽいつやっぽいromantic