Write It Right ~ peaked, peeked, piqued

Three times in as many days, I've run across a word I haven't seen (or maybe haven't noticed) in years.  Two of the three times it was misspelled.

• "His curiosity was peaked by the mysterious lady."
• "That peeked my interest."
• "I was both piqued and relieved to find that my little peccadillo had caused my siblings so much mirth."

A peak is the pointed top of something, like Mount Fuji (above).  It's the high point, as in a machine running at peak performance. To peek at something is to take a quick look, as when we play peek-a-boo with a baby or peek from behind a newspaper.


The word the writers of the first two examples above wanted was "piqued."  To pique can mean to excite, as in arousing curiosity, interest, or resentment.  These children have definitely become curious about the ... whatever it is.

If I've piqued your interest, click this link to read a clever post about these three words.  You may also want to peek here to see a photo of President Barack Obama playing peek-a-boo with a baby.

This Write It Right post is part of my new series about words and writing.