pique
16 synonyms and 2 antonyms for pique, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Verb — To arouse someone's interest or curiosity, especially suddenly.
Synonyms
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. verb
To arouse someone's interest or curiosity, especially suddenly.
“The headline piqued my curiosity, so I read the whole article.”
Opposites
2. verb
To wound someone's pride or make them feel resentful and irritated.
“He was piqued at not being invited to the meeting.”
3. noun
A feeling of irritation or wounded pride, usually short-lived and caused by a slight.
“In a fit of pique she deleted the entire draft.”
How to use pique
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
Standard in all registers. The noun almost always appears in the fixed phrase "a fit of pique".
Etymology
From French piquer, "to prick, sting", which also gives English picket; the noun sense of wounded pride came into English first.
Full origin of pique →