to spice up
23
3.9
- phrasal verb
- /spaɪs ʌp/
- Informal
:
dar vida a
- I have a few ideas on how we can spice up our routine to make it more exciting.
What can I do to really spice things up?
- What can I do to really spice things up?
- So that's how we're going to spice this up.
- And they think that this little trip to Palm Springs is going to spice things up, save things.
- Adam and Eve is going to spice up your sex life.
- Do you think Andrew Tate, he would spice things up?
- I needed to spice things up, you know, being blind, like I don't need a big screen.
- Yeah, we need, we need something to spice it up.
Examples
-
All the more reason to spice it up.
Fiction book (1995) -
Can you help us spice up our Turkey day?
-
You gotta spice it up.
-
Well, that might spice things up.
-
But what I really think would spice up the entire experience is... food!
Blog text (6) -
We meet once every two months or so, and this would spice it up!
Blog text (33) -
For this reason, it's important to really spice up your creativity.
Blog text (28) -
Garden fountains are a great way to spice up your garden.
Blog text (29) -
It's a delightful dish to spice up the weekdays.
-
She wanted to spice up the marriage by having boudoir photographs taken.
Synonyms
88
3.5
Change your routine to make it more interesting
66
3.9
To make or become more active and interesting
57
3.4
To become more intense or make a situation more intense
38
3.6
To make something more interesting and lively
26
4.2
Make big changes to try to create excitement or improvement
6
4.1
Make something more active and interesting
4
3.6
To make something more exciting or interesting
4
4.9
To make someone or something more lively
3
4.1
Make someone or something more lively and interesting
2
5.1
Make something more interesting and lively, like a room or outfit
1
8.2
To make something more lively or bright
1
7.7
To become more active or exciting in a situation
Make an event like a party more lively and exciting
To make something more lively or exciting
Make people more interested and eager about something
To make something more attractive by adding new parts
Antonyms
How Exciting
523
3.4
- Informal
23
3.9
- Informal
66
3.9
∞
1.0
28
3.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to make more interesting or lively' follows directly from combining 'spice' (to add flavor or seasoning) with the intensifying particle 'up' (to increase). Although metaphorical, this culinary-to-evaluation metaphor is common and the composition is predictable, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Spice up uses the same image: like adding spice to a dish to make it more exciting, you add something to a story, outfit, or event to make it more lively. That's why it means 'to make something more interesting, exciting, or lively'.