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Sauce piquant
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Pique
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Piquancy
Pungent
Peer
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Synonyms
stimulating
interesting
provocative
sparkling
spirited
poignant
pungent
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Piquant
[
pee
-k
uh
nt
,
-kahnt
,
pee-
kahnt
]
Example Sentences
Origin
pi·quant
/
ˈpi
kənt
,
-kɑnt
,
piˈkɑnt
/
Show Spelled
[
pee
-k
uh
nt
,
-kahnt
,
pee-
kahnt
]
Show IPA
adjective
1.
agreeably pungent or sharp in taste or flavor; pleasantly biting or tart:
a piquant aspic.
2.
agreeably stimulating, interesting, or attractive:
a piquant glance.
3.
of an interestingly provocative or lively character:
a piquant
wit
.
4.
Archaic
.
sharp or stinging, especially to the feelings.
Origin:
1515–25;
<
French:
literally, pricking (
see
pique
1
,
-ant
); replacing
pickante
<
Italian
piccante
Related forms
pi·quan·cy,
pi·quant·ness,
noun
pi·quant·ly,
adverb
Synonyms
1.
spicy.
2.
intriguing.
3.
sharp, clever.
Antonyms
1.
insipid.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Piquant
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Piquant
is always a great word to know.
So is
ninnyhammer
. Does it mean:
So is
callithumpian
. Does it mean:
So is
quincunx
. Does it mean:
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
Example Sentences
Unusual settings give a piquant, humorous tilt to her characters' misery.
Green sauces are invariably piquant and herbacious.
It's much more piquant to read that two powerful and rich ladies are feuding than a couple of small-town, small-time ones.
EXPAND
Adjective
Unusual settings give a piquant, humorous tilt to her characters' misery.
Green sauces are invariably piquant and herbacious.
It's much more piquant to read that two powerful and rich ladies are feuding than a couple of small-town, small-time ones.
The best of our fish dishes was Dover sole, expertly deboned and served in a piquant lemon beurre blanc with capers.
In a piquant final twist, Grandma brings this forceful narrative full circle.
Actually it is light, fluffy and piquant when tossed with herbs and an oil-and-lemon dressing.
Consider this a parable or a metaphor or just a piquant coincidence.
The spacious room in which we sit is pervaded by the piquant scent of freshly cut white carnations.
That is, the ingredients she has compiled are first rate, and her book is filled with piquant and arcane details.
Its fine white meat is needed to give the bouillabaisse its piquant — almost sharp — taste.
COLLAPSE
Collins
World English Dictionary
piquant
(ˈpiːkənt, -kɑːnt)
—
adj
1.
having an agreeably pungent or tart taste
2.
lively or stimulating to the mind
[C16: from French (literally: prickling), from
piquer
to prick, goad; see
pique
1
]
'piquancy
—
n
'piquantness
—
n
'piquantly
—
adv
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
piquant
1521, from M.Fr. piquant "pricking, stimulating, irritating," from O.Fr. prp. of piquer "to prick, sting, nettle" (see
pike
(2)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
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Matching Quote
"Americans, unhappily, have the most remarkable ability to alchemize all bitter truths into an innocuous but piquant confection and to transform their moral contradictions, or public discussion of such contradictions, into a proud decoration, such as are given for heroism on the battle field."
-James Baldwin
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