Meanings
present singular third person spices up · participle present spicing up · participle past spiced up · past spiced up
- To enhance the flavor of something by adding spice to it.
January 2008, The Eagle-Tribune - Fresh or dried? Spice up your cooking with the right seasonings
- informaltransitiveTo make more exotic, fun or extravagant.
The good sister is there to minister to his spiritual needs, the nurse is there to bind his wounds, and the prostitute is there to spice up his bland sex life.
1984, Rosemarie Tong - Women, Sex, and the Law page 39
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Catalan animar
- animarmake something more exotic, fun or extravagant
Chinese Mandarin 加辣
- 加辣 (jiālà)enhance the flavour of something using spice
French pimenter, pimenter
- pimenterenhance the flavour of something using spice
- pimentermake something more exotic, fun or extravagant
German aufpeppen, aufpeppen
- aufpeppenenhance the flavour of something using spice
- aufpeppenmake something more exotic, fun or extravagant
Hungarian megfűszerez, színesít
- megfűszerezenhance the flavour of something using spice
- színesítmake something more exotic, fun or extravagant
- érdekessé teszmake something more exotic, fun or extravagant
- feldobmake something more exotic, fun or extravagant
Italian speziare, pimentare
- speziareenhance the flavour of something using spice
- pimentareenhance the flavour of something using spice
- ravvivaremake something more exotic, fun or extravagant
Korean 양념하다
- 양념하다 (yangnyeomhada)enhance the flavour of something using spice
Latin faciō dēlectābilior
- faciō dēlectābiliormake something more exotic, fun or extravagant
Polish doprawiać, doprawić
- doprawiaćenhance the flavour of something using spice
- doprawićenhance the flavour of something using spice
- zaostrzaćenhance the flavour of something using spice
- zaostrzyćenhance the flavour of something using spice
- podkręcaćmake something more exotic, fun or extravagant
- podkręcićmake something more exotic, fun or extravagant
- uatrakcyjniaćmake something more exotic, fun or extravagant
- uatrakcyjnićmake something more exotic, fun or extravagant
Portuguese condimentar, temperar
- condimentarenhance the flavour of something using spice
- temperarenhance the flavour of something using spice
- apimentarmake something more exotic, fun or extravagant
Russian приправля́ть, припра́вить
- приправля́ть (pripravljátʹ)enhance the flavour of something using spice
- припра́вить (priprávitʹ)enhance the flavour of something using spice
- разнообра́зить (raznoobrázitʹ)make something more exotic, fun or extravagant
Spanish saborizar, especiar
- saborizarenhance the flavour of something using spice
- especiarenhance the flavour of something using spice
- animarmake something more exotic, fun or extravagant
Vietnamese thêm mắm thêm muối
- thêm mắm thêm muốimake something more exotic, fun or extravagant
Cite this entry
spice up. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spice%20up
“spice up.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spice%20up. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spice up,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spice%20up.
Source: spice up on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.