piquant
[adjective]
Synonyms:
- spicy, biting, pungent, savoury, sharp, tangy, tart, zesty
- interesting, lively, provocative, scintillating, sparkling, stimulating

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Antonyms: banal
Contrasted words: inane, jejune
Related Words: high-flavored, well-flavored, appetizing, sparkling

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English Thesaurus: delicious, disgusting/revolting, sweet, tasty, sour/tart, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

pi‧quant /ˈpiːkənt/ adjective
[Date: 1500-1600; Language: French; Origin: present participle of piquer; ⇒ pique²]

1. having a pleasantly spicy taste:
a piquant wild mushroom sauce

2. interesting and exciting
—piquantly adverb
—piquancy noun [uncountable]:
The production retains its original piquancy.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

delicious having a very good taste:
This cake is delicious!
a delicious meal
disgusting/revolting having a very bad taste:
The medicine tasted disgusting.
They had to eat revolting things, like fish eyes.
sweet tasting full of sugar:
The oranges were very sweet.
tasty especially spoken tasting good and with plenty of flavour:
She cooked us a simple but tasty meal.
That was really tasty!
sour/tart having a taste that stings your tongue slightly, like lemon does – used especially when this is rather unpleasant:
The apples were a little sour.
The wine has rather a tart taste, which not everyone will like.
tangy having a taste that stings your tongue slightly, like lemon does, in a way that seems good:
The dressing was nice and tangy.
bitter having a strong taste which is not sweet and is sometimes rather unpleasant – used for example about black coffee, or chocolate without sugar:
bitter chocolate
The medicine had rather a bitter taste.
Hops give beer its distinctive bitter taste.
salty containing a lot of salt:
Danish salami has a salty flavour.
hot/spicy having a burning taste because it contains strong spices:
I love hot curries.
a spicy tomato sauce
piquant /ˈpiːkənt/ formal a little spicy – used especially by people who write about food. This word can sound rather pretentious in everyday conversation:
cooked vegetables in a piquant sauce
mild not having a strong or hot taste – usually used about foods that can sometimes be spicy:
a mild curry
bland not having an interesting taste:
I found the sauce rather bland.
sharp having a taste that makes your tongue sting slightly:
Rhubarb has quite a sharp taste.
The cheese has a pleasing colour and a pleasantly sharp flavour.
sour having a usually unpleasant sharp acid taste, like the taste of a lemon, or a fruit that is not ready to be eaten – used especially about fruit, or about liquids that have gone bad:
Some people say that the purpose of the lemon’s sour taste is to stop the fruit being eaten by animals.
Rachel sampled the wine. It was sour.
acidic very sour – used especially about liquids or things made with fruits such as oranges, lemons, or grapes:
Some fruit juices taste a bit acidic.
tart having a taste that lacks sweetness – used especially about fruit such as apples, which you need to add sugar to:
The pudding had rather a tart flavour.
The trees were covered with tart wild plums.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

delicious having a very good taste:
This cake is delicious!
a delicious meal
disgusting/revolting having a very bad taste:
The medicine tasted disgusting.
They had to eat revolting things, like fish eyes.
sweet tasting full of sugar:
The oranges were very sweet.
tasty especially spoken tasting good and with plenty of flavour:
She cooked us a simple but tasty meal.
That was really tasty!
sour/tart having a taste that stings your tongue slightly, like lemon does – used especially when this is rather unpleasant:
The apples were a little sour.
The wine has rather a tart taste, which not everyone will like.
tangy having a taste that stings your tongue slightly, like lemon does, in a way that seems good:
The dressing was nice and tangy.
bitter having a strong taste which is not sweet and is sometimes rather unpleasant – used for example about black coffee, or chocolate without sugar:
bitter chocolate
The medicine had rather a bitter taste.
Hops give beer its distinctive bitter taste.
salty containing a lot of salt:
Danish salami has a salty flavour.
hot/spicy having a burning taste because it contains strong spices:
I love hot curries.
a spicy tomato sauce
piquant /ˈpiːkənt/ formal a little spicy – used especially by people who write about food. This word can sound rather pretentious in everyday conversation:
cooked vegetables in a piquant sauce
mild not having a strong or hot taste – usually used about foods that can sometimes be spicy:
a mild curry
bland not having an interesting taste:
I found the sauce rather bland.
taste good/nice/delicious/great
The apples weren’t very big but they tasted good.
taste horrible/awful/disgusting/foul
The tea tasted horrible.
taste funny/odd/strange
These fruit drinks taste a bit funny until you get used to them.
taste sweet/bitter/sour/salty
He handed me some black stuff which tasted bitter.
taste strongly of something
The water tasted strongly of chlorine.
sweet-tasting/strong-tasting etc
a sweet-tasting drink

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

hot used especially when you feel uncomfortable:
I feel really hot.
The travellers were hot, tired, and thirsty.
warm a little hot, especially in a way that feels comfortable:
Are you warm enough?
We had to keep moving in order to keep warm.
boiling (hot) spoken very hot:
You must be boiling in that sweater!
‘I’m going for a swim,' said Gary. ’I’m boiling.'
I felt boiling hot and tried to open one of the windows.
feverish feeling very hot because you are ill:
His head ached and he felt feverish.
Hannah was slightly feverish, so we decided to call the doctor.
baking (hot) British English very hot and dry:
a baking hot afternoon
The weather was baking hot and conditions at the camp became unbearable.
It’s baking out there in the garden – I need a drink.
scorching (hot) very hot:
It was another scorching hot July day.
When we got there, the weather was scorching.
Arizona is scorching hot every day.
humid/muggy hot and damp:
This week sees a return to more humid conditions.
Hong Kong gets very humid at this time of year.
In June the weather was often muggy in the evenings.
It was a warm muggy afternoon, and it looked like it would rain.
like an oven much too hot in a way that is uncomfortable – used about rooms and buildings:
The inside of the shed was like an oven.
lukewarm /ˌluːkˈwɔːm◂ $ -ˈwɔːrm◂/ slightly warm, but not hot enough – used about liquids:
a cup of lukewarm coffee
The bath water was lukewarm.
delicious having a very good taste:
This cake is delicious!
a delicious meal
disgusting/revolting having a very bad taste:
The medicine tasted disgusting.
They had to eat revolting things, like fish eyes.
sweet tasting full of sugar:
The oranges were very sweet.
tasty especially spoken tasting good and with plenty of flavour:
She cooked us a simple but tasty meal.
That was really tasty!
sour/tart having a taste that stings your tongue slightly, like lemon does – used especially when this is rather unpleasant:
The apples were a little sour.
The wine has rather a tart taste, which not everyone will like.
tangy having a taste that stings your tongue slightly, like lemon does, in a way that seems good:
The dressing was nice and tangy.
bitter having a strong taste which is not sweet and is sometimes rather unpleasant – used for example about black coffee, or chocolate without sugar:
bitter chocolate
The medicine had rather a bitter taste.
Hops give beer its distinctive bitter taste.
salty containing a lot of salt:
Danish salami has a salty flavour.
hot/spicy having a burning taste because it contains strong spices:
I love hot curries.
a spicy tomato sauce
piquant /ˈpiːkənt/ formal a little spicy – used especially by people who write about food. This word can sound rather pretentious in everyday conversation:
cooked vegetables in a piquant sauce
mild not having a strong or hot taste – usually used about foods that can sometimes be spicy:
a mild curry
bland not having an interesting taste:
I found the sauce rather bland.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

sweet sweet food or drink has had sugar added or contains natural sugars:
Italian oranges are very sweet.
a cup of hot sweet tea
sugary sweet because a lot of sugar has been added:
Sugary foods are bad for your teeth.
sickly British English tasting unpleasantly sweet:
The dessert was rather sweet and sickly.
a sickly sweet fruit drink
cloying tasting or smelling unpleasantly sweet:
I find strawberry and peach drinks too cloying.
the cloying smell of fish oil
delicious having a very good taste:
This cake is delicious!
a delicious meal
disgusting/revolting having a very bad taste:
The medicine tasted disgusting.
They had to eat revolting things, like fish eyes.
tasty especially spoken tasting good and with plenty of flavour:
She cooked us a simple but tasty meal.
That was really tasty!
sour/tart having a taste that stings your tongue slightly, like lemon does – used especially when this is rather unpleasant:
The apples were a little sour.
The wine has rather a tart taste, which not everyone will like.
tangy having a taste that stings your tongue slightly, like lemon does, in a way that seems good:
The dressing was nice and tangy.
bitter having a strong taste which is not sweet and is sometimes rather unpleasant – used for example about black coffee, or chocolate without sugar:
bitter chocolate
The medicine had rather a bitter taste.
Hops give beer its distinctive bitter taste.
salty containing a lot of salt:
Danish salami has a salty flavour.
hot/spicy having a burning taste because it contains strong spices:
I love hot curries.
a spicy tomato sauce
piquant /ˈpiːkənt/ formal a little spicy – used especially by people who write about food. This word can sound rather pretentious in everyday conversation:
cooked vegetables in a piquant sauce
mild not having a strong or hot taste – usually used about foods that can sometimes be spicy:
a mild curry
bland not having an interesting taste:
I found the sauce rather bland.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲