poign·ant

(poin′yənt)

adj.

a. Arousing deep emotion, especially pity or sorrow; touching: a poignant memory; a poignant story. See Synonyms at moving.

b. Keenly distressing to the mind or feelings: poignant anxiety.

c. Physically painful: "Keen, poignant agonies seemed to shoot from his neck downward" (Ambrose Bierce).

2. Piercing; incisive: poignant criticism.

3. Agreeably intense or stimulating: "It was a poignant delight to breathe the keen air" (Joseph A. Altsheler).

4. Archaic

a. Sharp or sour to the taste; piquant.

b. Sharp or pungent to the smell.

[Middle English poinaunt, from Old French poignant, present participle of poindre, to prick, from Latin pungere; see peuk- in Indo-European roots.]

poign′ance, poign′an·cy n.

poign′ant·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adv.

poignantly - in a poignant or touching manner; "she spoke poignantly"

affectingly, touchingly

Translations

tristemente

poignantly

[ˈpɔɪnjəntlɪ] ADV [describe, write, speak] → de modo conmovedor

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

poignantly

[ˈpɔɪnjəntli] adv [describe] → de façon très émouvante
Naomi's experiences are poignantly described in her fiction → Naomi décrit son expérience de façon très émouvante dans ses romans.

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

poignantly

adv describe, illustrate → ergreifend; old memories stirred poignantly within her → alte Erinnerungen rührten sich wehmütig in ihr; poignantly beautiful → auf wehmütige Art schön

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

poignantly

[ˈpɔɪnjəntlɪ] adv (feel) → intensamente; (describe) → in modo toccante

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

And, and most immediately and poignantly, were their far conclusions, their long-won wisdoms, shut even then in the huge, metallic heart of the Red One, waiting for the first earth-man to read?

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And then he traversed the room like a hound on the scent, skimming the walls, considering the corners of the bulging matting on his hands and knees, rummaging mantel and tables, the curtains and hangngs, the drunken cabinet in the corner, for a visible sign, unable to perceive that she was there beside, around, against, within, above him, clinging to him, wooing him, calling him so poignantly through the finer senses that even his grosser ones became cognisant of the call.

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And so poignantly did he remember, that he became wide awake, and many pictures, beginning, with the girl babe, burned their torment in his brain.

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This the lieutenant felt most poignantly, and this was the reason he leant his head against the window, and sighed so deeply.

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The exaggerated pessimism in this part of his outcry is explained by his own statement, that he lived in a transition time, when the old faith was (as he held) dead, and the new one (partly realized in our own generation) as yet 'powerless to be born.' Arnold's poetry, therefore, is to be viewed as largely the expression, monotonous but often poignantly beautiful, of a temporary mood of questioning protest.

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At last poignantly uncertain as to what would happen if he opened his lips, he muttered:

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He was smoking his cigar with a poignantly mocking air and not even looking at me.

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She was dimly aware of the scathing intention lurking in these soft low tones, in these words which appealed to her poignantly. She defended herself.

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She missed him poignantly, with all the force of her protecting passion.

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One day I had come to my studies in lower spirits than usual; the ebb was occasioned by a poignantly felt disappointment.

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From among the confused memories of that tragic flare one little figure emerged very bright and poignantly sweet, Edna, crying back reluctantly from the departing motor-car, "See you to-morrer, Bert?"

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For the moment he poignantly regretted that rumor was not true, and that his eleven millions were not in reality thirty millions.

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