piquancy

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From piquant +‎ -cy.

Noun

[edit]

piquancy (countable and uncountable, plural piquancies)

  1. The degree to which something is piquant, stimulating or exciting.
    • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Romance and Reality. [], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, [], →OCLC, 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, chapter 1, in Women in Love:
      There was a certain playfulness about her too, such a piquancy or ironic suggestion, such an untouched reserve.

Translations

[edit]