What's the difference between piquant and spicy?

Piquant


Definition:

  • (a.) Stimulating to the taste; giving zest; tart; sharp; pungent; as, a piquant anecdote.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The present experiment shows that the piquant chow eaten by rats produced a fall in rectal temperature 48 h later.
  • (2) And there are entries that point to Peel as an incorrigible collector and tireless champion of the recherche: with all due respect to an oeuvre that included the piquant-sounding Fuckin' 4 Bucks and I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, how many albums by Washington DC splattercore pioneers the Accüsed does one man really need?
  • (3) One final thought: if Lebedev is toying with the idea of distributing the Independent for free, he may well be able, piquantly, to acquire the paper and its Sunday sister for the same price.
  • (4) The great lexicographer, of course, is as fat in fame as ever, though more for his piquant remarks to Boswell than for his own writings.
  • (5) In three experiments on the social induction of food preferences in rats, I found: (a) that eight 30-min exposures of a naive "observer" rat to a "demonstrator" rat fed one of two approximately equipalatable diets produced observer preference for the diet fed to its demonstrator that lasted for more than a month, (b) that simple exposure of naive subjects to a diet itself, rather than to a rat that had eaten a diet, was not sufficient to enhance preference for that diet, and (c) that lasting preference for an unpalatable, piquant diet could also be established by exposing naive rats to demonstrators that had eaten the piquant diet, but not by simply exposure to the piquant diet itself.
  • (6) In this series, the choice between piquant and nonpiquant chow showed that 4 rats out of 5 preferred to eat the chow without capsaicin.
  • (7) After this habituation period, when free to choose, 3 rats out of 4 preferred eating the piquant chow.
  • (8) The food cooked in this predominantly Muslim neighbourhood is as piquant as the hot pink and burnt orange painted houses that rise gently up the lower slopes of Signal Hill, part of Table Mountain.
  • (9) Clearly, this hyperreal simulation juxtaposes piquantly with the all-too real world in which Uruguayan football fans send death threats to the Newcastle United defender Paul Dummett for clattering their compatriot, striker Luis Suarez.
  • (10) The present experiment provides some evidence that rats accustomed to eat piquant food manifested, when free to choose, a preference for an innately unpalatable piquant chow.
  • (11) He rejoined the Guardian as sketchwriter and remained there for the rest of his working life, consistently finding even on the dullest and least eventful of days something vivid, piquant and unexpected to say.
  • (12) Just as Lolita , as Nabokov piquantly notes in his afterword, was variously read as "old Europe debauching young America" or "young America debauching old Europe", GTA IV leaves itself interpretatively open as to whether Niko is corrupted by America or whether he and his ilk (many of the most vicious characters whose paths Niko crosses are immigrants) are themselves bacterial agents of corruption.
  • (13) There is real dissent in Italy, and in its gentle but piquant way, Reality is part of that.
  • (14) It’s tempting to imagine that writer and director Andrew Haigh conjured that line in response to the more piquant criticisms of his series, whose lack of an obvious agenda led some to label it “post-gay”.
  • (15) When the club switched the catering contract from one local firm to another in the early 2000s, the new chef spent months trying to perfect the piquant blend, which his piqued predecessor refused to pass on.

Spicy


Definition:

  • (superl.) Flavored with, or containing, spice or spices; fragrant; aromatic; as, spicy breezes.
  • (superl.) Producing, or abounding with, spices.
  • (superl.) Fig.: Piquant; racy; as, a spicy debate.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) She ushers us into the kitchen, where a large metal pot simmering on the hotplate emits a spicy aroma.
  • (2) It was a sunny Friday night by the seaside, and the atmosphere was spicy with sweat, lager and marijuana smoke.
  • (3) Heartburn was induced by a meal consisting of chili, black coffee, and a spicy tomato drink mix.
  • (4) The latter of these focus on the things Chile does best: wine and pisco, the local brandy with a grassy colour and spicy-sweet taste.
  • (5) Patients with gastroesophageal reflux often describe heartburn after "spicy meals."
  • (6) We walk down the narrow alley lined with boutiques, past carts selling tteokbokki , the ubiquitous gelatinous rice cakes swimming in a spicy red sauce (which taste much nicer than they sound).
  • (7) Fried foods, "spicy" foods, and alcohol were the most common precipitating factors.
  • (8) The Ned Waihopai River Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand (£9.99, Waitrose ; Majestic ) There's all the pungent verdant grass-and-gooseberry of classic Kiwi sauvignon here to match with asparagus, plus the generosity of fruit and limey acidity that will work just as well with a mildly spicy and herby Vietnamese or Thai stir-fry.
  • (9) In the last few years my wife and I have gone off going out as much as we used to, but if I did, it would be something spicy, or a really nice Chinese.
  • (10) Waiting for them, bobbing in oil, are the deals: three spicy wings with regular fries for £1, two pieces of chicken and chips for £2; or the "student special": one piece of chicken, regular fries plus a can of Pepsi, also for £2.
  • (11) He could often be seen eating spicy lamb chops at his favourite curry houses, flattering local businessmen and speaking irreverently about parliamentary colleagues.
  • (12) With its brightly punchy tomato sauce, good mound of rocket, decent if sparingly distributed mozzarella and porky, spicy salsiccia sausage, my sampler largely backed up such hype.
  • (13) The recipes veer from the incredibly simple, such as stir-fried potato slithers with chillies to the more elaborate, such as dry-braised fish with pork in spicy sauce.
  • (14) Note, too, how many manuals of eating are termed "bibles": in the cult of "nutritionism" we have Patrick Holford's Optimum Nutrition Bible and Gillian McKeith's Food Bible , and there also exist a Baby Food Bible , a Whole Food Bible , a Gluten-Free Bible , a Party Food Bible , a Spicy Food Lover's Bible , and so on ad nauseam or perhaps ad astra.
  • (15) The typhoon shelter was famous for its restaurants' cuisine – including Under Bridge Spicy Crab – and it was a nightlife hub, alive with mahjong games and hired singers.
  • (16) From a rich Indonesian rendang to a smoky Indian aubergine side dish, the ones I finally picked certainly didn't disappoint, but it was the unusual sweet and sour flavours of Angela Kim's Keralan vegetable sambar that really grabbed my attention – surely the perfect spicy, comforting Sunday supper.
  • (17) A plate of plump, pan-fried gnocchi with peppery, spicy ground pork was simple but full of good, accurate flavours.
  • (18) Mexican hot chocolate Spicy and nice: thejameskitchen's Mexican dark hot chocolate drink.
  • (19) Spiced cornbread EverydayVeg's spicy cornbread is easily packed and great for sharing.
  • (20) Ordering a procession of dishes to share over a long afternoon's grazing is the perfect way to go here: try crunchy cubes of fried tapioca with a sweet and spicy dipping sauce, and out-of-this-world torresmo (meaty, homemade pork scratchings, £1.30).