MEANING
1. To stimulate a feeling, especially curiosity or interest.
2. To irritate someone by offending their pride.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- pique curiosity
- pique interest
On the page
The unexplained initials piqued her curiosity.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- pique
- Past tense
- piqued
- Past participle
- piqued
- Present participle
- piquing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- pique
- Present continuous
- am/is/are piquing
- Present perfect
- have/has piqued
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been piquing
- Past
- piqued
- Past continuous
- was/were piquing
- Past perfect
- had piqued
- Past perfect continuous
- had been piquing
- Future
- will pique
- Future continuous
- will be piquing
- Future perfect
- will have piqued
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been piquing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: pique; piques; piqued; piqued; piquing Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: description, character, dialogue. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: piques.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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