piquant
[pee-kuhnt, -kahnt, pee-kahnt]
- agreeably pungent or sharp in taste or flavor; pleasantly biting or tart: a piquant aspic.
- agreeably stimulating, interesting, or attractive: a piquant glance.
- of an interestingly provocative or lively character: a piquant wit.
- Archaic. sharp or stinging, especially to the feelings.
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Origin of piquant
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
1. insipid.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for piquancy
Contemporary Examples
Piquancy is added to the last point because the other main contender for Fed chair is a woman, and a highly qualified one at that.
Historical Examples
He measured its value by its piquancy, by its adaptability to epigrammatic rhymes.
The Life of Cesare BorgiaRaphael Sabatini
Call it, for the sake of piquancy, "Beethoven and Esterhazy."
Old FogyJames Huneker
He imagined that that sort of thing lent a piquancy to conversation.
A Venetian JuneAnna Fuller
And it gains in piquancy from the fact that everybody knows the personages.
A Chambermaid's DiaryOctave Mirbeau
He was more famous for his wit than his wisdom; for his piquancy than for piety.
One Irish SummerWilliam Eleroy Curtis
piquant
- having an agreeably pungent or tart taste
- lively or stimulating to the mind
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Word Origin
C16: from French (literally: prickling), from piquer to prick, goad; see pique 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for piquancy
piquant
adj.
1520s, from Middle French piquant "pricking, stimulating, irritating," present participle of piquer "to prick, sting, nettle" (see pike (n.2)).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper