pique
Part of speech: verb
noun
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: The verb is borrowed from French piquer (“to prick, sting; to anger, annoy; (reflexive) to get angry; to provoke, stimulate; (reflexive) to boast about”), from Middle French piquer, picquer (“to prick, sting; to anger, annoy; (reflexive) to get angry”), from Old French piquer (“to pierce with the tip of a sword”), from proto-Romance or Vulgar Latin *pīccare (“to sting; to strike”) or *pikkāre, and then either:
* Onomatopoeic; or
* from Frankish *pikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *pikkōną (“to knock; to peck; to pick; to prick”). If so, pique is a doublet of pick, pitch, and peck.
The noun is borrowed from Middle French pique (“a quarrel; resentment”) (modern French pique), from piquer, picquer (verb); see above.
Inflected forms:
form: piques
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: piquing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: piqued
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: piqued
pos: verb
tags: past
form: piques
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: To wound the pride of (someone); to excite to anger; to irritate, to offend.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: The Dev'l was piqu'd, ſuch ſaintſhip to behold, / And long'd to tempt him like good Job of old: / But Satan now is wiſer than of yore, / And tempts by making rich, not making poor.
Brisk Confidence still best with woman copes; / Pique her and soothe in turn, soon Passion crowns thy hopes.
His chusing to walk with her, she had learnt to understand. It was done to pique Miss Brereton.
She treated him indulgently, as if he were a child. He thought he did not mind. But deep below the surface it piqued him.
gloss: To excite (someone) to action, especially by causing jealousy, resentment, etc.; also, to stimulate (an emotion or feeling, especially curiosity or interest).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: I believe this will pique your interest.
I have been hugely involved in the operational side until this point, but now I can speak to operators and other businesses such as American and European companies, because we seem to have piqued interest.
gloss: To pride (oneself) on something.
pos: verb
tags: reflexive
transitive
examples: [G]ood Nature may be ſetled in them [children] into a Habit, and they may take pleaſure and pique themſelves in being kind, liberal, and civil to others.
The American hunters pique themselves on their skill in shooting Racoons; which, from the extraordinary vigilance and cunning of the animals, is by no means an easy task.
She piqued herself on writing a hand in which each letter was distinguishable without any large range of conjecture, and she meant to make much use of this accomplishment, to save Mr. Casaubon’s eyes.
gloss: To excite or stimulate (oneself).
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
reflexive
transitive
gloss: To take pride in.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
gloss: To excite to action, especially by causing jealousy, resentment, etc.; also, to stimulate an emotion or feeling, especially curiosity or interest.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: Piqu'd by Protogenes's Fame, / From Co to Rhodes, Apelles came; / To ſee a Rival and a Friend, / Prepar'd to Cenſure, or Commend, […]
gloss: To express jealousy, resentment, etc. at someone; to become angry or annoyed.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
obsolete
rare
examples: For I obſerve, that all vvomen of your condition are like the vvomen of the Play-houſe, ſtill Piquing at each other, vvho ſhall go the beſt Dreſt, and in the Richeſt Habits: till you vvork up one another by your high flying, as the Heron and Jerfalcon do.
gloss: Enmity, ill feeling; (countable) a feeling of animosity or a dispute.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: Men take up piques and diſpleaſures at others, and then every opinion of the diſliked perſon muſt partake of his fate, and be engaged in the quarrel: […]
[H]e ſhew'd himself, out of ſome little pique, the moſt bitter enemy againſt the K[ing, i.e., Charles I of England] in all the Houſe [of Parliament], as well in action as ſpeech; […]
This dog and man at firſt were friends; / But when a pique began, / The dog, to gain his private ends, / Went mad and bit the man.
Not so Madame de Soissons, who at once divined his intentions and watched his progress, internally resolving to render him every ill office pique could suggest, or ridicule execute.
[L]ong, costly, and bloody wars had arisen upon a point of ceremony, upon a personal pique, upon a hasty word, upon some explosion of momentary caprice; […]
[T]here occurred one of the little skirmishes which it is almost impossible to avoid, when some five-and-twenty women, old and young, with all their private piques and prejudices, try to work together.
gloss: Irritation or resentment awakened by a social injury or slight; offence, especially taken in an emotional sense with little consideration or thought; (countable) especially in fit of pique: a transient feeling of wounded pride.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: Tuſh! tuſh! you take the grave peake uppon you too much: who would think you could ſo eaſily ſhake off your olde friendes?
Pray, my Lord, take no picque at it: 'tis not given to all men to be confident: […]
"'Tis because you are an indifferent person," said Lucy, with some pique, and laying a particular stress on those words, "that your judgment must justly have such weight with me.["]
"At all events," replied Francesca, "it could not be better bestowed, than as an offering, however unworthy, for his sake who is nearest and dearest to me in the world." / "I thank you for the implied compliment," returned Evelyn, in a tone of pique.
You think this is a personal thing with me? Are you telling me I think of this in terms of a personal pique?
This defiance was not a fit of pique, but a matter of principle. He [Mandela's father] was asserting his traditional prerogative as a chief and was challenging the authority of the magistrate.
[Jürgen] Klopp’s team had the better balance between attack and defence and, crucially, they got lucky with the disallowed goal that brought [Pep] Guardiola to the point of spontaneous combustion at half-time. Guardiola’s fit of pique led to his banishment from the dugout and City will wonder what might have happened if they had taken a 2–0 lead into the second half.
gloss: In pique of honour: a matter, a point.
pos: noun
tags: countable
obsolete
examples: Add long preſcription of eſtabliſh'd laws, / And picque of honour to maintain a cauſe, / And ſhame of change, and fear of future ill, / And Zeal, the blind conductor of the will; […]
Translations:
lang: Bulgarian
word: възбуждам
roman: vǎzbuždam
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 激起（兴趣
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 好奇心）
roman: jīqǐ
lang: Czech
word: vzbudit
lang: Czech
word: vyvolat
lang: Spanish
word: picar
lang: Spanish
word: azuzar
lang: Spanish
word: encorajinar