Synonyms

piqued

American

[peekt] / pikt /

adjective

(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.
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.
(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

the simple past tense and past participle of pique.

Other Word Forms

unpiqued adjective

Etymology

Origin of piqued

pique ¹ ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

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 the interesting thing that piqued my attention in the last 12 months was that BlackRock is also one of the best data and software companies in the industry.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

But the list of questions piqued his interest.

From Slate • Apr. 6, 2026

Kian's mum said his interest was initially piqued by one of his teachers.

From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026

Lower mortgage rates and Washington’s focus on housing have piqued the interest of home buyers this spring.

From Barron's • Feb. 11, 2026

That piqued Thomas’s interest-—he had been wanting to do that.

From "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023