Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use pique in a sentence

19 example sentences · verb, noun

Pique means to wound the pride of (someone); to excite to anger; to irritate, to offend. Example: “I believe this will pique your interest.”

Examples of pique by meaning

verbTo wound the pride of (someone); to excite to anger; to irritate, to offend.

  • But deep below the surface it piqued him.1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “The Test on Miriam”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC, part II, page 292

verbTo excite (someone) to action, especially by causing jealousy, resentment, etc.; also, to stimulate (an emotion or...

  • I believe this will pique your interest.
  • I have been hugely involved in the operational side until this point, but now I can speak to operators and other businesses such as American and European companies, because we seem to have piqued interest.2020 January 2, Richard Clinnick, “After Some Alarms, Sleeper Awakens”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC...

nounIrritation or resentment awakened by a social injury or slight; offence, especially taken in an emotional sense with...

  • Are you telling me I think of this in terms of a personal pique?1957 June 27, Clifford Odets, Ernest Lehman, Alexander Mackendrick (uncredited), Sweet Smell of Success
  • This defiance was not a fit of pique, but a matter of principle.1994, Nelson Mandela, chapter 1, in Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company...
  • Guardiola’s fit of pique led to his banishment from the dugout and City will wonder what might have happened if they had taken a 2–0 lead into the second half.2018 April 10, Daniel Taylor, “Liverpool go through after Mohamed Salah stops Manchester City fightback”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The...

nounIn piquet, the right of the elder hand to count thirty in hand, or to play before the adversary counts one.

  • By concentrating on one detail he can practically always balk the pique, the repique and the kapot, if it is necessary to play for safety.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards...

More sentences with pique

  • Your remarks piqued my curiosity, as it did my mom's too.From the entry do
  • “Have you ever had eggs in a basket?” she asked, finally piquing Joey’s interest in food.2009, Pam Andrews (pseudonym; Pam Hanson and Barbara Andrews), Hometown Reunion, Steeple Hill, →ISBN, pages 95, 97, and 188. From the entry egg in a basket
  • You must accept a proffered Pique Ant ambassador, as you are pique ants too.2007, Piers Anthony, Stork Naked. From the entry antly
  • Chris thought of the speech pathologist, Jennifer, with pique and vague groinal stirrings.2003, Matthew Sharpe, The Sleeping Father. From the entry groinal
  • My class was wearing butter-yellow pique dresses, and Momma launched out on mine.1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 23, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. From the entry launch
  • In a fit of pique, woman at the National Theatre responded with a stunningly inappropriate mistweet, calling Norris a four-letter word.2012, Beth Kanter, Katie Delahaye Paine, Measuring the Networked Nonprofit, page 177. From the entry mistweet
  • Almost everything about this notion piqued my curiosity: the commodification of violence into a tourist product; the idea that “politics” was actually history.2023 November 21, Megan K. Stack, “Is Ireland Headed for a Merger?”, in The New York Times. From the entry commodification
  • But when I got multiple doctors on my feed advocating for the use of a BORG as a harm reduction tactic, it piqued my interest.2023 March 3, Meredith MacLean, “To BORG or not to BORG: Safe alternative or dangerous trend?”, in The Daily Targum, →OCLC, archived from…. From the entry dage
  • Bendell was describing was already happening to many people — just not yet to the Western academics, bankers and journalists whose interests he had piqued.2020 December 26, Jonah E. Bromwich, “The Darkest Timeline”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry deep adaptation
  • So, Shasta had reflected at once, Aunt Lily, by acclamation the family raconteuse, had certainly piqued her concern and puzzlement, if not exactly her surprise.2012, William Penn, Love in the Time of Flowers, →ISBN, page 51. From the entry raconteuse
  • Conductors leading performances of music outside the mainstream presumably enjoy the chance to get off the beaten repertorial track while piquing an audience’s curiosity about lesser-known scores.2009 August 20, Vivien Schweitzer, “Repeating a Work That’s All but Ignored”, in New York Times. From the entry repertorial
  • "So the only reason I can think of for this burst of pique is that you're jealous." "Of you and that hen-witted tart with her rhinoceros-sized breasts?"2008, Sabrina Jeffries, Let Sleeping Rogues Lie. From the entry hen-witted

Meaning of pique

  1. verb To wound the pride of (someone); to excite to anger; to irritate, to offend.
  2. verb To excite (someone) to action, especially by causing jealousy, resentment, etc.; also, to stimulate (an emotion or feeling, especially curiosity or interest).
  3. verb To pride (oneself) on something.

Full definition of pique

Questions about pique in a sentence

How do you use pique in a sentence?
Pique is used as a verb and noun. For example: “I believe this will pique your interest.”
What is a short sentence with pique?
“I believe this will pique your interest.”
What does pique mean?
Pique means to wound the pride of (someone); to excite to anger; to irritate, to offend.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pique (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use pique in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/pique. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.