Poignant

/ˈpɔɪ.njənt/ · adjective

Meaning

(obsolete, of a weapon, etc.) Sharp-pointed; keen..

Definitions by Sense

1. (obsolete, of a weapon, etc.) Sharp-pointed; keen.
2. Neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant.
3. Evoking strong mental sensation, to the point of distress; emotionally moving.
4. (figuratively, of a smell, taste) Piquant, pungent.
5. (figuratively, of a look, word) Incisive; penetrating; piercing.
6. (chiefly British, dated) Inducing sharp physical pain.

Example Sentences

His siluer shield, now idle maisterlesse; / His poynant speare, that many made to bleed [...].

A poignant reply will garner more credence than hours of blown smoke.

Flipping through his high school yearbook evoked many a poignant memory of yesteryear.

The shabby chest of drawers was spread with a lace cover, and set out with a few gold-topped boxes and bottles, a rose-coloured pin-cushion, a glass tray strewn with tortoise-shell hair[-]pins—he shrank from the poignant intimacy of these trifles, and from the blank surface of the toilet-mirror above them.

A particularly poignant example of this is a child called Genie (see Curtiss 1977; Rymer 1993), who was deprived of speech input and kept locked up on her own in a room until age thirteen. When eventually taken into care and exposed to intensive language input, her vocabulary grew enormously, but her syntax never developed.

Hanks shepherds the young girl to safety – first brusquely, and then with a sudden outburst of affection made all the more poignant for the way it is reserved previously. He once again reminds us, quite literally, that he is in many ways the ultimate dad.

His comments were poignant and witty.

Synonyms for poignant

Antonyms for poignant

Related Words

Word Forms

• more poignant
• most poignant

Usage Notes

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