pepperoni

noun

pep·​per·​o·​ni ˌpe-pə-ˈrō-nē How to pronounce pepperoni (audio)
: a highly seasoned beef and pork sausage

Examples of pepperoni 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.
Security guards working a party outside a mansion gave him $100 for delivering 10 pepperoni pizzas. Chandler Rome, New York Times, 19 May 2025 Burchill had opened his window and left boxes of pepperoni pizza in his hotel room at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria, British Columbia. Christopher Elliott, USA Today, 26 Apr. 2025 Inspectors typically visit facilities where frozen pizza is topped with pepperoni at least once a day—inspectors are also present at the slaughterhouse where the pig is butchered and the plant where the actual pepperoni is made. Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 25 Mar. 2025 An Expert Weighs In Keeping Desserts with Cream Cheese Frosting on the Counter There was once an era when anything belonged on grandma’s counter, from leftover sweet tea to desserts containing dairy to last night’s pepperoni pizza. Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 21 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for pepperoni

Word History

Etymology

Italian peperoni cayenne peppers, plural of peperone, augmentative of pepe pepper, from Latin piper — more at pepper

First Known Use

1888, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of pepperoni was in 1888

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Pepperoni.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pepperoni. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.

Kids Definition

pepperoni

noun
pep·​per·​o·​ni ˌpep-ə-ˈrō-nē How to pronounce pepperoni (audio)
: a highly seasoned beef and pork sausage

More from Merriam-Webster on pepperoni

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