piercing

/pɪərsɪŋ/

/ˈpɪəsɪŋ/

Piercing means loud or intense, like the piercing scream of the heroine in a horror movie or the piercing cold of the wind on a frigid February morning.

The adjective piercing comes from pierce, which means to poke a hole in something with a sharp object. If you've had your ears pierced, you get the idea. Things that are piercing are figuratively sharp, like a piercing look from an angry teacher, the piercing cold of the ocean, or the piercing sound of your smoke detector. There's also a shrewdness or intelligence that can be described as piercing: "The piercing insight in your book report was impressive."

Definitions of piercing

1. adjective

   painful as if caused by a sharp instrument
   “piercing cold”

   “piercing criticism”

   synonyms: cutting, keen, knifelike, lancinate, lancinating, stabbing

   sharp

   keenly and painfully felt; as if caused by a sharp edge or point
2. adjective

   having or emitting a high-pitched and sharp tone or tones
   synonyms: sharp, shrill

   high, high-pitched

   used of sounds and voices; high in pitch or frequency
3. adjective

   having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
   synonyms: acute, discriminating, incisive, keen, knifelike, penetrating, penetrative, sharp

   perceptive

   having the ability to perceive or understand; keen in discernment