Spicey or Spicy: Which Spelling Is Correct? (With Examples)

The terms “spicey” and “spicy” appear to be quite consistent in both spelling and their overall meaning. However, many folks often question whether or not the spelling of “spicey” should be considered to be correct or proper. In this article, we will take an in-depth look at both terms.

Spicey Or Spicy: Which Spelling Is Correct?

When deciding which spelling to use, based on overall correctness, one should always use the spelling “spicy”, as opposed to “spicey”. This has an abundance to do with the fact that the spelling “spicey” is considered to be an archaic form of “spicy”.

When wanting to use correct English, whether it be American or British, we should consistently avoid the use of archaic terms, like “spicey”, unless it is applicable to the context that we are writing in.

Spicey

The spelling of the term “spicey” is considered to be an archaic form of the modernized term “spicy”. Because of this, we should not consider it to be correct and should always choose to use the spelling of “spicy”, in its place.

If one were to use the spelling of “spicey”, especially in an academic context, it would generally be graded or marked as highly incorrect. When looking in dictionaries, we will note that the term “spicey” is not included.

We will now go over some examples that include the term “spicey” in a sentence. We should recognize that these examples are incorrect, and the spelling “spicy” should always be the one that we choose to use in place of “spicey”.

1. Incorrect: That dish was so spicey, my mouth felt like it was on fire!
2. Incorrect: Indian food is known for being incredibly spicey.
3. Incorrect: I cannot handle when my food is that spicey.
4. Incorrect: Do you prefer spicey food or sweet food?
5. Incorrect: I do not like spicey food, as it generally upsets my stomach.
6. Incorrect: Please do not make my specific plate spicey, as I cannot handle it.

Spicy

The spelling of the term “spicy” is always considered correct, regardless if we are speaking in terms of American or British English. We should consider food that is “spicy” to be flavored with or very fragrant with spice – typically the type that feels like heat or a slight burning sensation.

When looking at Cambridge Dictionary, we can see that the term “spicy” is defined as containing strong flavors from spices or flavored with spices that are hot to the taste.

We will occasionally hear the term “spicy” used to describe a person, as opposed to food. This is essentially a way of describing a specific personality, saying that someone is hot-tempered or consistently brings excitement or surprise to a conversation, event, etc.

We will now be going over the following examples, that highlight how to correctly use the term “spicy” in a sentence:

1. I cannot get over how incredibly spicy that meal was!
2. I had to drink what felt like a gallon of water after eating that spicy food.
3. I enjoy some hot sauces, but occasionally, they are far too spicy for my liking.
4. She has never tried spicy food before, so be sure to go easy on her.
5. I love anything and everything spicy, as it makes food very favorable!
6. In my opinion, spicy food is absolutely terrible.

Spicey Or Spicy – Which Is Used The Most?

As we can see from the data provided by Google Ngram Viewer, the spelling of the term “spicy” is used far more frequently than that of the spelling “spicey”. This is a trend that is consistent from the beginning of the 1900s, well into the present day.

In fact, when looking at the data that has been provided, we can see that the use of the spelling “spicey” is pretty well non-existent within the last century. This can be attributed to the fact that the spelling “spicey” is considered to be very archaic, and therefore, also highly incorrect. The use of this spelling will be graded as incorrect and should certainly not be used in an academic or professional setting.

Final Thoughts

We should not even consider the spelling “spicey” to be correct or appropriate to use, as it is thought of as being archaic. It cannot be used interchangeably for the proper spelling of “spicy”, with this especially being true in an academic or professional setting.