Lipases are the most widely used class of enzymes in organic synthesis. Availability of large number of commercial preparations, their broad specificity and relatively better stability (as compared to other enzymes) in media containing organic solvents have all been contributing factors for this. This review has a sharp focus on their specificity. The recent results with catalytic promiscuity have shown that lipases are even more versatile than thought so far. These results have also prompted workers to rationalize the classification of specificity in terms of substrate promiscuity, condition promiscuity and catalytic promiscuity. The review also attempts to recast the known information on specificity of lipases in the context of enzyme promiscuity. Lipases can exhibit regiospecificity. specificity in terms of fatty acids, nature of the alcohol, and stereospecificity (distinction between sn-1 and sn-3 position on the triglyceride). Lipases show varied stability toward presence of organic solvents, extreme pH conditions and ionic liquids. In low water media, condition promiscuity in terms of esterification, transesterification and interesterification has been extensively studied. The catalytic promiscuity is being increasingly observed for C-C bond formation reactions. Finally, the beneficial consequences of this promiscuous behavior in biotechnology sectors are also discussed. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.