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sugar and spice

sugar and spice

1 3.5
Very nice and friendly in a sweet, gentle way
  • noun
  • Informal
translation icon : dulzura y encanto
  • She has a personality full of sugar and spice, making everyone feel welcome and happy.
  • sugar and spice and everything nice

Examples

  • The little girl was the epitome of sugar and spice, charming everyone with her sweet smile.

  • Whatever happened to sugar and spice and everything nice?

  • You were sugar and spice.

  • It's in education, where boys are considered a nuisance, while girls are "made of sugar and spice and everything nice."

    Blog text (26)
  • sugar and spice

  • Sugar and spice

    Blog text (8)
  • This time, he makes sure to add a little sugar and spice and delivers his first female offspring, full of gooey love and romps through tall grass among giant ticks.

    Blog text (22)
  • Her kindness and laughter make her a true example of sugar and spice in our lives.

Synonyms

sweet
vssugar and spice
808 1.0

Pleasing to the senses or feelings

is more explicitly charming and playful in an affectionate way
charming
vssugar and spice
418 1.0

Pleasant and attractive in a way that people like

is sweeter and more endearing rather than merely attractive
pleasant
vssugar and spice
314 1.0

Giving a gentle feeling of enjoyment

is more intensely sweet and affectionate rather than merely agreeable
delightful
vssugar and spice
202 2.0

Something very pleasant that makes you happy

is more endearing and sweet rather than only giving pleasure
sweet-natured
vssugar and spice
2 3.2

Kind and gentle toward others

is more about being charming and affectionate than only a good temperament
loverly
vssugar and spice
  • Informal
1 8.0

Very pleasant and attractive in an informal, friendly way

is more old-fashioned and endearing than neutral pleasantness
delightsome
vssugar and spice
  • Archaic
8.8

Making people feel very happy

is more intimate and sweetly affectionate rather than formally pleasing
sugar honey ice tea
vssugar and spice
  • Slang
9.9

A thing that is very sweet and makes you feel happy

is the idiom that emphasizes charm and endearment rather than literal sweetness

Antonyms

76 1.7

Easily annoyed and in a bad mood

How Pleasant

adorable
280 1.0
sugar and spice
  • Informal
1 3.5
charming
418 1.0
pleasant
314 1.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

sugar + and + spice

The nouns 'sugar' and 'spice' both carry positive sensory connotations, so a B1 learner who knows those words would likely infer a general sense of pleasantness or charm from the combination. However, the expression is a conventionalized collocation with cultural nuance and a fixed idiomatic use (e.g., 'sugar and spice and everything nice'), so the exact evaluative meaning is not fully predictable from the parts.

Etymology

The phrase sugar and spice comes from an old children's rhyme that names tasty things like sugar and spice to paint a picture of someone sweet and lovely. So it now means 'very pleasant' or 'charming'.