In the accepted answer is said: Reserve hot to describe the temperature of something. And whenever I hear hot, I first and foremost understand it unambiguously referring the temperature. Exception: When talking about women ;p -- Em1 Jan 17 at 15:58 17 @Em1, there are lots of people who don't reserve "hot" for that usage, though. -- Monica Cellio Jan 17 at 15:59 Off topic: do other languages use the same word for this, too? If not (attempted on topic) and you and your listener both know that other language, use it. "Watch out --- caliente! " -- GEdgar Jan 17 at 16:01 1 I find myself using extra words, like "This is really hot ... I mean in temperature, not spicy." Which of course is very awkward. I'll be interested to see if someone comes up with a concise way to say it. -- Jay Jan 17 at 16:11 1 Having either lots of different spices, or a high amount of one spice, has nothing in particular to do with that food item happens to piquant. Not all spices burn; most, in fact, do not. -- tchrist Jan 17 at 20:38 18 Answers "Spicy" is also ambiguous (certain kinds of cake, for example, are spicy but not hot) "Piquant" is not frequently used, so could seem pretentious. You must therefore keep an eye on context, and add information where necessary. Most of the time, when talking about food, "hot" refers to temperature, except in the context of mustard, horseradish,