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.

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

From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026

Either way, it has piqued the curiosity of many young users.

From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026

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

But it also piqued colleagues who believed such criticism would undermine the policy’s effectiveness by creating doubt over how long the Fed would sustain the program.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

You want an animal that is piqued, peeved, vexed, bothered, irked, annoyed—but not homicidal.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

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