Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Pleasantly pungent or tart in taste; spicy.
- adjective Appealingly provocative; charming.
- adjective Causing hurt feelings; stinging.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Of an agreeable pungency or sharpness of taste or flavor; sharp; stinging; biting: as, sauce piquant.
- Of a smart, lively, racy, or sparkling nature; keenly interesting, or fitted to produce a sudden or keen interest; “taking”: as, a piquant anecdote: a piquant manner; a piquant style of female beauty; a piquant hat.
- That pierces or wounds, or is fitted to pierce or wound; stinging; sharp or cutting to the feelings; biting; keen; pungent; severe.
- Synonyms Poignant, etc. See
pungent .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Stimulating to the taste; giving zest; tart; sharp; pungent.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Engaging ;charming . - adjective Favorably
stimulating to thepalate ; pleasantlyspicy ; stimulating. - adjective archaic Causing hurt feelings;
scathing .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective having an agreeably pungent taste
- adjective attracting or delighting
- adjective engagingly stimulating or provocative
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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What is particularly piquant — that's right I used the word piquant — about the conflation of Nicaragua and El Salvador is that it suggests America's entire effort "down there" was nothing but folly, hubris, and imperialism.
THE NEWS BLOG 2005
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It was the old world and the new one brought face to face with a vengeance! the contrast rendered the more piquant from the fact of the new one being represented by the worthy middle-aged baronet, the old by the girl of seventeen.
Maria Edgeworth 1905
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Mrs. Cary's "piquant" -- pronounced in a manner that was neither French nor English, but a startling mixture of both -- had a background to it of charitable patronage.
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That is what you may call piquant, it braces and refreshes a man.
On Nothing and Kindred Subjects Hilaire Belloc 1911
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He soon tired of the others, wanted something new; recalled the piquant character of the girl and took a fancy into his head that she would lighten his ennui.
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He soon tired of the others, wanted something new; recalled the piquant character of the girl and took a fancy into his head that she would lighten his ennui.
Behind a Mask, or a Woman's Power Louisa May Alcott 1860
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Mr. Buruma skirts the issue by calling this cruel man "fastidious and difficult," "piquant," a "trickster," ... or an example of "bad boy behavior."
On V.S. Naipaul: An Exchange Murray, Margaret 2009
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One saving grace would be that the MxDW at least wouldn't have that lovely, "piquant" flavor from being smuggled in empty ammonia tankers.
Marijuana "ranked fairly high," says Obama, who was presumably not high... Ann Althouse 2009
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There was a kind of piquant joy in their hearts as they crept up past the Tower, and saw its mighty walls and guns across the water.
The King's Achievement Robert Hugh Benson 1892
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It looks certainly very graceful, fresh, animated, "piquant," as they love to say -- yes! and withal, I repeat, perfectly pure, and may well congratulate itself on the loan of a fallacious grace, not its own.
Imaginary Portraits Walter Pater 1866
chained_bear commented on the word piquant
Whenever I see this word I hear Nathan Lane's voice as a meerkat saying "Piquant, with a delicate crunch," about a bug.
July 16, 2008
madmouth commented on the word piquant
The nominal form is piquancy
April 15, 2009