piqued
/piːkt/
piqued is the simple past and past participle of pique.
Meaning of pique
Verb
pique (third-person singular simple present piques, present participle piquing, simple past and past participle piqued)
- To wound the pride of (someone); to excite to anger; to irritate, to offend.
- The Dev'l was piqu'd, ſuch ſaintſhip to behold, / And long'd to tempt him like good Job of old: / But Satan now is wiſer than of yore, / And tempts by making rich, not making poor.1733 (indicated as 1732), [Alexander] Pope, Of the Use of Riches, an Epistle to the Right Honourable Allen Lord Bathurst, London: […] J. Wright, for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 18
- Synonyms:
- fret, nettle, sting, aggravate, annoy, rankle, ruffle, burn someone's ass, antagonize, bother
- To excite (someone) to action, especially by causing jealousy, resentment, etc.; also, to stimulate (an emotion or feeling, especially curiosity or interest).
- I believe this will pique your interest.
- To pride (oneself) on something.
- [G]ood Nature may be ſetled in them [children] into a Habit, and they may take pleaſure and pique themſelves in being kind, liberal, and civil to others.1693, [John Locke], “§105”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC, page 123
- To excite or stimulate (oneself).
- To take pride in.
- To excite to action, especially by causing jealousy, resentment, etc.; also, to stimulate an emotion or feeling, especially curiosity or interest.
- Piqu'd by Protogenes's Fame, / From Co to Rhodes, Apelles came; / To ſee a Rival and a Friend, / Prepar'd to Cenſure, or Commend, […]1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Protogenes and Apelles”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC, stanza 2, page 292
Adjective
piqued (comparative more piqued, superlative most piqued)
- Annoyed, usually mildly and temporarily, especially by an offense to one's pride or honor.
Synonyms of piqued
Forms of piqued
| comparative | more piqued |
|---|---|
| superlative | most piqued |
Words formed from piqued
Words that rhyme with piqued
Questions about piqued
- What does piqued mean?
- Piqued means annoyed, usually mildly and temporarily, especially by an offense to one's pride or honor.
- What is piqued the simple past and past participle of?
- Piqued is the simple past and past participle of pique.
- What part of speech is piqued?
- Piqued is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce piqued?
- Piqued is pronounced /piːkt/.
Words near piqued in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: piqued (page history and authors); pique (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-piqued.wav.
Cite this entry: “piqued.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/piqued. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
