pepperoni
n. uncountablen. a spicy Italian-style sausage made from pork and beef. You usually see it sliced into thin circles as a popular topping for pizza.
n. a spicy, dry-cured sausage of Italian-American origin, typically seasoned with paprika and chili pepper. Often used as a pizza topping or in sandwiches.
I would like a large pizza with extra pepperoni.
The chef carefully arranged thin slices of pepperoni across the dough before sliding the pizza into the wood-fired oven.
Borrowed from Italian peperoni (“bell peppers”), the plural of peperone (“bell pepper”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Uncountable when referring to the meat in general; countable when referring to individual slices or specific varieties.
Last updated May 11, 2026