piquancy

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English

Etymology

piquant +‎ -cy

Noun

piquancy (countable and uncountable, plural piquancies)

  1. The degree to which something is piquant, stimulating or exciting.
    • 1831, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Romance and Reality, volume 2, pages 197-198:
      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,...
    • 1920, D.H. Lawrence, Women in Love, ch 1:
      There was a certain playfulness about her too, such a piquancy or ironic suggestion, such an untouched reserve.

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