Showing results for "piercing"

• present participle of pierce.

piercing

American  

[peer-sing] / ˈpɪər sɪŋ /

adjective

1. loud or shrill, as the quality of a voice.

   Synonyms:

   screeching, strident, grating

2. extremely cold or bitter.

   a piercing wind.

3. appearing to gaze deeply or penetratingly into something.

   piercing eyes.

4. perceptive or aware; acute.

   a piercing mind.

5. sarcastic or caustic; cutting.

   piercing remarks.

6. having an unpleasantly intense quality or effect.

   a piercing drought.

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noun

piercings plural

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. a ring, stud, or other piece of jewelry inserted through a hole in a body part.

   He wears five silver piercings on his ears.

piercing British  

/ ˈpɪəsɪŋ /

adjective

1. (of a sound) sharp and shrill

2. (of eyes or a look) intense and penetrating

3. (of an emotion) strong and deeply affecting

4. (of cold or wind) intense or biting

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noun

1. the art or practice of piercing body parts for the insertion of jewellery

2. an instance of the piercing of a body part

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• piercingness
  noun
• unpiercing
  adjective
• piercingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• piercings
  plural

Etymology

Origin of piercing

First recorded in 1375–1425; pierce, -ing ²

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."

Example Sentences

Monty Norman's surf guitar riff and John Barry's sweeping orchestral scores spawned an entire genre of spy music – full of minor key suspense and piercing stabs of trumpet.

From BBC • Jun. 13, 2026

That started a current weekly double-bottom base with a bullish piercing line candle the week ended April 11, 2025, and the lows earlier in April.

From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026

Besides ear piercing, Claire's also lacked offerings like make-up lessons to entice people into stores.

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026

Lowery explores the wounds inflicted by fame’s piercing orbit, implying that absolution isn’t attained by climbing stardom’s echelons, but by falling just before reaching the top, hitting every last regret on the way down.

From Salon • Apr. 24, 2026

And Sheba was huge, her nose long and pointed, her hair greasy gray tails swinging like thick ropes around her grinning face, her eyes red and piercing.

From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda

Related Words

• biting
• blaring
• earsplitting
• fierce
• high-pitched
• painful
• penetrating
• shrill