adj
Meaning 1
Causing hurt feelings; scathing, severe.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
piquant
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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/ˈpiːkənt/
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/ˈpiːˌkɑːnt/
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/piːˈkɑːnt/
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/ˈpiːkwənt/
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rhymes with -iːkənt
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rhymes with -ɑːnt
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CMU ARPABET: P IY1 K AH0 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Stimulating to the senses; engaging; charming.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Favorably stimulating to the palate; pleasantly spicy; tangy.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 4
Producing a burning sensation due to the presence of chilies or similar spices; spicy, hot.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 5
attracting or delighting
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- an engaging frankness
- a piquant face with large appealing eyes
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: engaging
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 6
engagingly stimulating or provocative
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- a piquant wit
- salty language
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: salty
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 7
having an agreeably pungent taste
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: savory, savoury, spicy, zesty
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French piquant (“pricking, stimulating, irritating”), present participle of piquer, possibly from Old French pikier (“to prick, sting, nettle”). Doublet of picong. Related to pike.
Across languages
Translations
27 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Afrikaans: pikant — engaging; charming
- Italian: piccante — engaging; charming
- Portuguese: chamativo — engaging; charming
- Portuguese: interessante — engaging; charming
- Afrikaans: pikant — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Belarusian: піка́нтны (pikántny) — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Bengali: ঝাল (jhal) — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Bulgarian: пикантен (pikanten) — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Burmese: စပ် (cap) — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Catalan: picant — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Dutch: pikant — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Estonian: pikantne — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Finnish: pikantti — favorably stimulating to the palate
- French: piquant — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Georgian: პიკანტური (ṗiḳanṭuri) — favorably stimulating to the palate
- German: pikant — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Hungarian: pikáns — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Ido: pik-anta — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Italian: piccante — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Italian: vespigno — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Japanese: 辛い (karai) — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Korean: 맵다 (maepda) — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Romanian: picant — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Russian: пикантный (pikantnyj) — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Spanish: picante — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Ukrainian: піка́нтний (pikántnyj) — favorably stimulating to the palate
- Welsh: sbeislyd — favorably stimulating to the palate