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.

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 • Feb. 9, 2026

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 • Feb. 6, 2026

As silver’s rally has piqued individual investors’ interest, volume in popular silver-linked ETFs exploded on Monday to the highest levels on record, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 26, 2026

His plight has piqued attention around the world - in 2018, musicians including Coldplay's Chris Martin and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn, signed a petition demanding his release from custody.

From BBC • Jan. 10, 2026

The troll paused, some basic curiosity piqued by the lack of fear.

From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer

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