to affect with sharp irritation and resentment, especially by some wound to pride.
She was greatly piqued when they refused her invitation.
to wound (the pride, vanity, etc.).
to excite (interest, curiosity, etc.).
Her curiosity was piqued by the gossip.
to arouse an emotion or provoke to action.
to pique someone to answer a challenge.
Archaic. to pride (oneself) (usually followed by on orupon ).
a feeling of irritation or resentment, as from a wound to pride or self-esteem.
to be in a pique.
Obsolete. a state of irritated feeling between persons.
a fabric of cotton, spun rayon, or silk, woven lengthwise with raised cords.
Ballet. a step in which the dancer steps onto the tip of the toe without bending the knee.
ornamentation by means of punched or stippled patterns, sometimes inlaid with metal, ivory, tortoise shell, etc.
(of glove seams and gloves) stitched through lapping edges.
decorated with inlay.
a piqué box.
to cause to feel resentment or irritation
to excite or arouse
to pride or congratulate (oneself)
What's the difference between pique, peak, and peek? The word pique is most commonly means to arouse or excite a particular feeling, as in Advertisements are designed to pique your interest. It can also be used as a verb meaning to irritate or as a noun referring to a feeling or irritation. The word peak refers to the top of a mountain or, more figuratively, to the highest point of something, as in the peak of my career. The word peek is most commonly used as a verb meaning to look at something quickly or sneakily and as a noun referring to such a look. The confusion surrounding the three words—all three of which can be used as both a verb and a noun—is mainly due to the fact that they are all pronounced the same. To remember what pique means (and how to spell it), remember that the things that pique your interest or curiosity are often unique.Since peek and peak are so close in spelling, one way to tell them apart is to remember that peek has two e’s, which kind of look like two little eyes peeking out between the p and the k. Another way to remember this is that peek has two e’s like look has two o’s. Here’s an example of pique, peak, and peek used correctly in a sentence. Example: The image of the strange mountain peak on the cover was meant to pique your curiosity, and it worked—you picked up the magazine to peek inside. Want to learn more? Read the breakdown of the difference between piqued, peaked, and peeked.
First recorded in 1525–35; from Middle French pique (noun), piquer (verb), from Vulgar Latin piccare (unrecorded) “to pick”; cf. pick 1, pike 2
First recorded in 1830–40; from French, past participle of piquer “to quilt, prick”; see pique 1
The verb pique means to make someone angry or annoyed. But when something piques your interest or curiosity, here the verb pique just means to arouse, stimulate, or excite. Both the noun and verb are pronounced "pēk" and were borrowed from a French word meaning "a prick or irritation," from Old French piquer, "to prick." So you can see how something that piques you could make you both excited and angry, perhaps even enough to storm away. That storming away, by the by, might be called a "fit of pique."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But two things can be true, and Bolton’s isn’t a simple case of presidential pique.
From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2026
And in the case of at least one clothing item — a pique sandwash dress — Sam’s Club members had even influenced the design.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
If you’re having trouble with that assignment, Zhao’s got some tricks up her sleeve to pique her audience’s romanticism.
From Salon ● Nov. 30, 2025
But if that isn’t enough to pique your interest, the music should be.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2025
She was showing it to us, humming the music under her breath as she moved through the port de bras and pique turns.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
On Sunday when, as Odile, Ms. Lovette whipped off as many fouetté turns as she could manage before falling out, she made a dazzling change in real time: She switched to piqué turns.
From New York Times ● Feb. 25, 2020
You can find the polo in a healthy array of fabrics beyond traditional piqué cotton, including soft jersey and fine-gauge wool and cashmere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2016
That afternoon, she was wearing a white piqué waistcoat with a tartan skirt.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 1, 2015
For whiteness studies to push past the amiability of white-on-white education, Ahmed argues, all involved must perform something of an ethical piqué manège.
From Slate
I scraped my fingers against the piqué of my dress.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
I am told you are doing very well with your piqués and dimities....
From More Tales by Polish Authors by Various
The above receipts are adapted for sweetbreads fricasseed, except that they must be cut in pieces for fricassees, and pieces of meat or poultry are added to them; sweetbreads when dressed whole look better piqués.
From The Jewish Manual Practical Information in Jewish and Modern Cookery with a Collection of Valuable Recipes & Hints Relating to the Toilette by Montefiore, Judith Cohen, Lady
Friday evening came, and with it a revelation in Houghton's window: the first piqués, the first strangely-woven and honey-combed toilet covers and bed quilts, the first frill-caps and aprons for maid-servants: a wonder in white.
From The Lost Girl by Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert)
If you are not too much of a purist, you will occasionally find these piqués productive of a piquant effect, and then you will take good care not to touch them.
From A Treatise on Etching by Lalanne, Maxime
The word piques Bear’s curiosity, causing him to wonder aloud if Nikki’s writing a romance.
From Salon ● Jun. 4, 2026
“We don’t cast for it, but when they come in, it definitely piques our interest,” says Lambo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2025
On occasion, a film or TV series comes down the pike that piques my interest not for the story depicted onscreen, but for the story behind it.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2023
No matter your taste, you’re likely to find something that piques your interest in these six productions coming to Seattle stages this month.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 6, 2023
Watch yourself, be the first to ask pardon if you both err, and guard against the little piques, misunderstandings, and hasty words that often pave the way for bitter sorrow and regret.”
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
"I was seeing loads about it and it piqued my interest."
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
The FBI agent from Connecticut piqued investigators’ interest, as did another man thought to have ties to the CIA, but that line of inquiry went nowhere.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
St. George, Utah, in the Mojave Desert has piqued travelers’ interests as Expedia recorded a 125% uptick in searches for the destination compared to last year.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026
Investor interest was piqued by the Artemis moon mission earlier this year that SpaceX did not participate in, she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
She was always eager to delve deeply into whatever piqued her interest, everything from photography to Latin.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
Luria thinks all that is piquing the curiosity of value investors, who buy stocks they believe are trading at a discount to their intrinsic worth.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 21, 2026
Pawpaws aren't the only promising crops piquing people's interest.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2024
In previous work, Montell's team came across a mutation in this gene that impaired cell mobility, piquing their interest.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 30, 2024
In 2015, major oil deposits were first discovered off Essequibo’s shore by an ExxonMobil-led consortium, piquing the interest of Venezuela, whose commitment to pursuing the territorial claim has fluctuated over the years.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 8, 2023
And for some reason this strikes a chord, piquing a memory.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
