Other forms: piques
Pique is wounded pride that shows as sudden irritation. In a fit of pique, out of pique, a moment of pique.
It appears almost only in a fit of pique, and the cause is always a slight rather than a wrong. The same French verb gives the other sense, to pique somebody's interest, which is to prick it into life.
1nounpiqueWounded pride that shows as sudden irritation.
“He resigned out of pique after he wasn't invited to the meeting.”
pique is an irritation.
French piquer means to prick or sting, from pic, a point.
Vulgar Latin
*pīccō — to sting; to strike
Old French
piquer — to pierce with the tip of a sword
Middle French
piquer
French
piquer — to prick, sting; to anger, annoy; (reflexive) to get angry; to provoke, stimulate; (reflexive) to boast about
English, today
pique
Built from
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 pīccō (“to sting; to strike”) or pikkāre, and then either:
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA