piercing
Americanadjective
-
loud or shrill, as the quality of a voice.
- Synonyms:
- screeching, strident, grating
-
extremely cold or bitter.
a piercing wind.
-
appearing to gaze deeply or penetratingly into something.
piercing eyes.
-
perceptive or aware; acute.
a piercing mind.
-
sarcastic or caustic; cutting.
piercing remarks.
-
having an unpleasantly intense quality or effect.
a piercing drought.
noun
-
piercings
plural
-
an act or instance of making a hole or opening in something.
The cleverly engineered design allows for a safe and smooth piercing of the hose for an easy, watertight installation.
-
the practice or technique of puncturing a body part so that jewelry can be inserted.
The shop is super clean and they're obviously experts in piercing.
-
a hole or opening made by puncturing: An infected navel piercing can usually be treated with antibiotics.
The five wall piercings were possibly a reference to the Five Holy Wounds of Christ.
An infected navel piercing can usually be treated with antibiotics.
-
a ring, stud, or other piece of jewelry inserted through a hole in a body part.
He wears five silver piercings on his ears.
adjective
-
(of a sound) sharp and shrill
-
(of eyes or a look) intense and penetrating
-
(of an emotion) strong and deeply affecting
-
(of cold or wind) intense or biting
noun
-
the art or practice of piercing body parts for the insertion of jewellery
-
an instance of the piercing of a body part
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of piercing
Explanation
Piercing means loud or intense, like the piercing scream of the heroine in a horror movie or the piercing cold of the wind on a frigid February morning. The adjective piercing comes from pierce, which means to poke a hole in something with a sharp object. If you've had your ears pierced, you get the idea. Things that are piercing are figuratively sharp, like a piercing look from an angry teacher, the piercing cold of the ocean, or the piercing sound of your smoke detector. There's also a shrewdness or intelligence that can be described as piercing: "The piercing insight in your book report was impressive."
Vocabulary lists containing piercing
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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The Diary of Anne Frank
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The Devil's Arithmetic
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In a four-star review, external, the Times noted how Heaton's "casually funny" and "deceptively piercing" latest album "again confirms his gift for dissecting human weakness with an unsentimental but humane eye".
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
She returned to skating in 2024 on her own terms, with a new look that included a halo hairstyle and a “smiley” piercing in the tissue connecting her upper lip to her gums.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
In a fire, any person expects to hear the piercing blare of a smoke alarm, yet not a single detector sounded that night.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
New piercing hubs now rolling out feature Claire’s new hero shade of lilac; bigger, comfier chairs than the ones of my youth; and an Inspiration Bar to help customers design their “ear stacks.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
But I do remember the piercing look she gave me as if she were actually going inside my head.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
Women in headscarves and long coats share the sidewalk with groups of young men and women in baggy jeans with body piercings and tattoos.
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026
You should think about overhauling your portfolio the way people should—but often don’t—decide about adding tattoos or body piercings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
In therapy with Arisu, Niragi still looks almost the same – wearing a busy patterned-shirt, face scarred and with nose and brow piercings.
From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2025
What about in vitro fertilization treatments or ear piercings?
From Slate ● Feb. 12, 2025
Back toward the fish market, she dodged shoppers and weaved through a group of people with piercings.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
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.
