15 April 2015

piquant

[pee-kuh nt, -kahnt, pee-kahnt]

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 of piquant
Italian
1515-1525; < French: literally, pricking (see pique1, -ant ); replacing pickante < Italian piccante

Related forms
piquancy, piquantness, noun
piquantly, adverb

Synonyms
1. spicy. 2. intriguing. 3. sharp, clever.

Antonyms
1. insipid.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the web for piquant
– 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.

Anagram

quit nap

Today’s aphorism

Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.

– Abraham Lincoln

On this day

15 April 1452 – birth of Leonardo Da Vinci, Italian renaissance inventor, painter, sculptor, mathematician, writer. Died 2 May 1519.

15 April 1865 – Death of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln after being shot the day before. Born 12 February 1809.

15 April 1912 – RMS Titanic sinks after hitting an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton UK to New York City, USA, costing the lives of 1,502 people out of the 2,224 crew and passengers who were on board. The White Star Line, who owned the Titanic, had declared her unsinkable.