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Tiff vs Pique - What's the difference?

tiff | pique |

As a proper noun tiff

is a nickname for tiffany.

As a noun pique is

a kind of ribbed or corded fabric.

tiff

English

Etymology 1

Originally, a sniff, sniffing; compare Icelandic word for a smell.

Noun

(en noun)
  • A small argument; a petty quarrel.
  • * 1840 , William Makepeace Thackeray, Catherine: A Story
    • There’s Tom, now, since this tiff with Mrs. Cat, the scoundrel plays the Grand Turk here!
  • Liquor; especially, a small draught of liquor.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
    • sipping his tiff of brandy punch.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To quarrel.
  • * Landor
    • She tiffed with Tim, she ran from Ralph.
    Synonyms
    * See also

    Etymology 2

    Middle English tiffen, (etyl) tiffer, (tifer), to bedizen; compare D. (tippen) to clip the points or ends of the hair, English tip (noun).

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To deck out; to dress.
    • (Webster 1913)

    Anagrams

    * English intransitive verbs

    pique

    English

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) .

    Noun

  • A feeling of enmity between two entities; ill-feeling, animosity; a transient feeling of wounded pride.
  • * Dr. H. More
    • Men take up piques and displeasures.
  • * De Quincey
    • Wars had arisen upon a personal pique .
  • A feeling of irritation or resentment, awakened by a social slight or injury; offence, especially taken in an emotional sense with little thought or consideration.
  • * 1994 , Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom , Abacus 2010, p. 7:
    • This defiance was not a fit of pique , but a matter of principle.
  • * Sweet Smell of Success (1957) screenplay by Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman, starring Burt Lancaster as J.J. Hunsecker who says:
    • You think this is a personal thing with me? Are you telling me I think of this in terms of a personal pique ?
  • (obsolete) Keenly felt desire; a longing.
  • * Hudibras
    • Though it have the pique , and long, / 'Tis still for something in the wrong.

    Verb

    (piqu)
  • To wound the pride of; to sting; to nettle; to irritate; to fret; to excite to anger.
  • * 1913 ,
    • She treated him indulgently, as if he were a child. He thought he did not mind. But deep below the surface it piqued him.
  • * Byron
    • Pique her and soothe in turn.
  • (reflexive) To take pride in; to pride oneself on.
  • * John Locke
    • Men pique themselves upon their skill.
  • To excite (someone) to action by causing resentment or jealousy; to stimulate (a feeling, emotion); to offend by slighting.
    • I believe this will pique your interest.
    (Prior)

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) pic.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • In piquet, the right of the elder hand to count thirty in hand, or to play before the adversary counts one.

    • Etymology 3

    From (etyl) pique, from Central (etyl) piki.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A chigger or jigger, Tunga penetrans .

    • Etymology 4

    From (etyl)

    Noun

  • A durable ribbed fabric made from cotton, rayon, or silk.

    • References

    Anagrams

    * ----