piqued
Americanadjective
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(of interest, curiosity, etc.) excited or aroused.
By the end of the talk the audience had tons of questions, and left with a piqued interest in the world of lion research.
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irritated and resentful, especially because of an injury to one’s pride.
The Act triggered President Truman's piqued reaction: he found the bill "un-American" and vetoed it, but to no avail.
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(of pride, vanity, etc.) wounded.
Unimaginable horrors often result from nothing more than a move to second place, a public embarrassment, or a piqued ego.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of piqued
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.
But when a reporter noted that rates might go even higher this year, the president sounded piqued.
From Slate ● Jun. 17, 2026
St. George, Utah, in the Mojave Desert has piqued travelers’ interests as Expedia recorded a 125% uptick in searches for the destination compared with last year.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026
Jonathan’s curiosity is piqued, and he slips away from his wife’s side to get to the bottom of why they’re being followed — which is revealed to be the novel’s inciting incident.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
She stumbled upon Fora and her interest was piqued.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
I wished I had more to say to keep the conversation going, his interest piqued, but I couldn’t think of anything else.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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.
