Meanings
plural piquancies
- countableuncountableThe degree to which something is piquant, stimulating or exciting.
There was a certain playfulness about her too, such a piquancy or ironic suggestion, such an untouched reserve.
1920, D.H. Lawrence, chapter 1, in Women in Love1 more example
At fifteen, her poetry of feeling (you see I do my best to please you with a phrase) would just give piquancy and freshness to her entry into life; but at twenty,...
1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, pages 197–198
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe quality of being agreeably stimulating or mentally exciting
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Bulgarian пикантност
- пикантност (pikantnost)degree to which something is piquant
German Pikanterie
- Pikanteriedegree to which something is piquant
Polish pikanteria
- pikanteriadegree to which something is piquant
Cite this entry
piquancy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/piquancy
“piquancy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/piquancy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “piquancy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/piquancy.
Source: piquancy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.