bhut jolokia

noun

bhut jo·​lo·​kia ˈbüt-jō-ˈlō-kē-ə How to pronounce bhut jolokia (audio)
plural bhut jolokias
: a small, extremely hot chili pepper : ghost pepper
The bhut jolokia is a hundred and fifty times hotter than a jalapeño.—Lauren Collins
The newest addition to India's antiterrorism arsenal is tastier than most. After successful trials in defense labs, the military is converting bhut jolokia—the world's hottest chili—into hand grenades.—Time

Examples of bhut jolokia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
This calendar comes with 12 mini bottles of hot sauce in a range of flavors, from the milder smoky horseradish to the bhut jolokia–infused Zombie Apocalypse. —Carina Finn, Bon Appétit, 26 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Assamese bhüt-zolokiya (in semi-phonetic transliteration; in Sanskritic transliteration bhōṭ-jalakīyā, phonetically bhʊt-zɔlɔkiya), from bhüt- (probably truncated from bhütiya "of Bhutan, Bhutanese," going back to Old Indo-Aryan *bhōṭṭīya "Tibetan") + zolokiya "pepper," of uncertain origin

Note: This form of the compound is recorded in the University of Gauhati's Candrakānta Abhidhānya (3rd edition, 1987), a comprehensive dictionary of Assamese with English glosses, as a variant (in quotation marks) of bih-zolokiya, literally, "poison pepper." However, the conventional translation as "ghost chili" or "ghost pepper" points to a variant (or misunderstanding?) bhut-zolokiya (in Sanskritic transliteration bhut-jalakīyā), with bhut "ghost, goblin, evil spirit" (corresponding to Sanskrit bhūtá "being, spirit, demon"). The forms bhüt /bhʊt/ and bhut /bhut/ differ only in the vowel, as the dental and retroflex stops have merged in Assamese.

First Known Use

2006, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bhut jolokia was in 2006

Dictionary Entries Near bhut jolokia

Bhutia

bhut jolokia

Bhutto

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Cite this Entry

“Bhut jolokia.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bhut%20jolokia. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

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