Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
📿 Prayer beads 🌶️ Spicy and numbing 🍲 A spicy dish 🦘 A small wallaby
mala

mala

1 8.3
Having a hot, spicy taste that feels slightly numbing from Sichuan pepper and chili
  • adjective
  • /ˈmɑːlə/
: picante y adormecedor
  • The chef prepared a mala sauce that left everyone's lips tingling from the numbing spice.

Examples

  • If you enjoy bold flavors, try the mala tofu at this Sichuan restaurant.

  • She loves ordering mala dishes because of their unique combination of heat and numbness.

  • I love the mala flavor in this hot pot.

  • This dish is too mala for me!

  • The chef prepared a mala sauce that left everyone's lips tingling from the numbing spice.

  • She loves ordering mala dishes because of their unique combination of heat and numbing flavor.

  • If you enjoy bold flavors, try the mala tofu at this Sichuan restaurant.

Synonyms

hot
vsmala
203 1.0

Having a strong, burning taste from spices like chili

combines that burning heat with a numbing pepper sensation from Sichuan pepper
spicy
vsmala
136 1.0

Food that has a very hot taste and makes your mouth burn

adds a numbing mouth feel caused by Sichuan pepper alongside heat
devilled
vsmala
  • UK
10 5.6

Prepared with strong spices to make food spicy

focuses on hot seasoning while adding a numbing Sichuan pepper note
peppery
vsmala
5 3.9

Having a strong spicy taste or smell like black pepper

includes a numbing pepper note from Sichuan pepper and chili
garam
vsmala
  • Indian
1 9.5

Spicy food or drink that makes the mouth feel hot

adds a specific numbing spice quality from Sichuan pepper to the warmth

How Spicy

mala
1 8.3
hot
203 1.0
spicy
136 1.0
mild
206 1.0
bland
22 2.0

Surface Forms

mala positive

Etymology

Mala comes from the Chinese parts má 'numbing' and là 'spicy', a clear image for the tingling heat you get from Sichuan pepper and chili. So when an adjective calls a dish mala, it means it is both numbing and spicy.