piqued

American  

[peekt] / pikt /

adjective

1. (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.

2. 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.

3. (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.

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verb

1. 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

Not surprisingly, Stoltz’s interest—and especially those wild wattage numbers—has piqued the curiosity of cycling bosses.

From The Wall Street Journal

So when a peddler arrives with a rare item and information, the overseer’s interest is piqued.

From The Wall Street Journal

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

From Barron's

As California’s water crisis worsened, recalling the constant swish of sprinklers throughout her childhood piqued her interest in native plants.

From Los Angeles Times

That type of divergence has piqued the interest of investors who question how to value AI’s ultimate payoff or struggle to understand the financial arrangements underpinning massive infrastructure spending.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• annoyed
• bitter
• enraged
• exasperated
• furious
• heated
• impassioned
• indignant
• irate
• irritable
• irritated
• mad
• offended
• outraged
• resentful
• sullen
• uptight