Dictionary

poignant en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• [ˈpɔɪɲ.ənt] (Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈpɔɪ.njənt/ (Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• [ˈpoɪɲ.ənt] (Australia)
• /ˈpɔɪ.ɡnənt/ (obsolete)
• /ˈpoɪ.njənt/ (Australia)
• /ˈpɔɪ.nənt/ (obsolete)
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From Middle English poynaunt, poynant, borrowed from Anglo-Norman puignant, poynaunt etc., present participle of poindre (“to prick”), from Latin pungō (“prick”). Doublet of pungent.

Meanings

1. (obsolete, of a weapon, usually) Sharp-pointed; keen.
   • His siluer shield, now idle maisterlesse; / His poynant speare, that many made to bleed [...]. 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
2. Neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant.
   • A poignant reply will garner more credence than hours of blown smoke.
3. Evoking strong mental sensation, to the point of distress; emotionally moving.
   • 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. 2021 February 9, Christina Newland, “Is Tom Hanks part of a dying breed of genuine movie stars?”, in BBC:
   • Sad Derek attracted more than 50 comments praising him for his poignant views[…] 2006 October 19, Wee Shu Min, Response to Derek Wee's blog:
   • 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. 1905, Edith Wharton, chapter XIV, in The House of Mirth, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, book II, page 528:
   • Flipping through his high school yearbook evoked many a poignant memory of yesteryear.
   • 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. 2004, Andrew Radford, Minimalist Syntax: Exploring the Structure of English, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, §1.4, page 13:
4. (figuratively, of a smell, qualifier:taste) Piquant, pungent.
5. (figuratively, of a look, qualifier:word) Incisive; penetrating; piercing.
   • His comments were poignant and witty.
6. (UK, dated) Inducing sharp physical pain.

Forms

Deriveds

unpoignant · poignance

Relateds

poignantly · poignancy

Synonyms

distressing · moving

Translations (171)

pt doloroso (inducing sharp physical pain) · hu szívbe markoló (evoking strong mental sensation) · de pikant (piquant; pungent) · fo hjartanemandi (evoking strong mental sensation) · de spitz (sharp-pointed; keen) · it doloroso (inducing sharp physical pain) · it toccante (evoking strong mental sensation) · pt picante (piquant; pungent) · pl ostry (sharp-pointed; keen) · pl ostry (piquant; pungent) · ca penetrant (incisive; penetrating) · sk pikantný (piquant; pungent) · bg пронизващ (incisive; penetrating) · ca dolorós (inducing sharp physical pain) · it penetrante (neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant) · it acuto (incisive; penetrating) · bg болезнен (inducing sharp physical pain) · ja 鋭い (piercing) · hu csípős (piquant; pungent) · nl scherp (piquant; pungent) · pt penetrante (piercing) · it appuntito (sharp-pointed; keen) · de erschütternd (evoking strong mental sensation) · cs ostrý (sharp-pointed; keen) · ca incisiu (incisive; penetrating) · fi pisteliäs (incisive; penetrating) · ca punyent (incisive; penetrating) · mi whakaaroha (evoking strong mental sensation) · sk špicatý (sharp-pointed; keen) · eo kortuŝa (evoking strong mental sensation) · de durchdringend (incisive; penetrating) · hu megrendítő (evoking strong mental sensation) · pl przenikliwy (piercing) · de scharf (piquant; pungent) · ru прони́зывающий (piercing) · it eloquente (neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant) · hu elevenbe vágó (incisive; penetrating) · ca punyent (evoking strong mental sensation) · ru о́стрый (sharp-pointed; keen) · de eindringlich (evoking strong mental sensation) · pt penetrante (neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant) · it acuto (neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant) · de streng (piquant; pungent) · sv stark (piquant; pungent) · da spiddende (piercing) · ca punxegut (sharp-pointed; keen) · sk ostrý (incisive; penetrating) · el αιχμηρός (incisive; penetrating) · it commovente (evoking strong mental sensation) · ca commovedor (evoking strong mental sensation) · it penetrante (piercing) · pt pungente (evoking strong mental sensation) · it penetrante (incisive; penetrating) · de spitz (incisive; penetrating) · ca clar (neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant) · hu éles (piercing) · it emozionante (evoking strong mental sensation) · ja 痛烈 (evoking strong mental sensation) · ru проникновенный (evoking strong mental sensation) · hu szívet tépő (evoking strong mental sensation) · sk prenikavý (piercing) · ca punyent (piercing) · ca punyent (piquant; pungent) · de anrührend (evoking strong mental sensation) · cs ostrý (piquant; pungent) · ca agut (incisive; penetrating) · el επίπονος (inducing sharp physical pain) · it intenso (evoking strong mental sensation) · fi arka (evoking strong mental sensation) · cs břitký (incisive; penetrating) · sk bodavý (inducing sharp physical pain) · ca punyent (inducing sharp physical pain) · pt agudo (incisive; penetrating) · cs dojímavý (evoking strong mental sensation) · pl wzruszający (evoking strong mental sensation) · gd tiamhaidh (evoking strong mental sensation) · fi osuva (neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant) · de aufdringlich (piquant; pungent) · ja 鋭い (inducing sharp physical pain) · it piccante (piquant; pungent) · cs pronikavý (piercing) · fo rørandi (evoking strong mental sensation) · de schneidend (incisive; penetrating) · de bitter (evoking strong mental sensation) · da spydig (incisive; penetrating) · ja 鋭い (incisive; penetrating) · fi terävä (sharp-pointed; keen) · sk prenikavý (incisive; penetrating) · fi kirpeä (piquant; pungent) · ja 痛烈な (incisive; penetrating) · cs palčivý (piquant; pungent) · sk pichľavý (piquant; pungent) · de zutreffend (neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant) · el διαπεραστικός (incisive; penetrating) · es puntiagudo (sharp-pointed; keen) · de eindringend (incisive; penetrating) · el σπαραχτικός (evoking strong mental sensation) · fi pikantti (piquant; pungent) · it incisivo (incisive; penetrating) · ru ре́зкий (piquant; pungent) · de schmerzhaft (inducing sharp physical pain) · fi kipeä (evoking strong mental sensation) · ca incisiu (piercing) · ja 鋭い (neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant) · es punzocortante (sharp-pointed; keen) · it affilato (sharp-pointed; keen) · fi kivulias (inducing sharp physical pain) · ca eloqüent (neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant) · fi pistävä (inducing sharp physical pain) · it pungente (piquant; pungent) · hu felkavaró (evoking strong mental sensation) · de rührend (evoking strong mental sensation) · cs pronikavý (neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant) · es cortopunzante (sharp-pointed; keen) · pt comovente (evoking strong mental sensation) · de schmerzlich (inducing sharp physical pain) · ja 辛辣な (incisive; penetrating) · bg пронизващ (piercing) · fi liikuttava (evoking strong mental sensation) · cs palčivý (inducing sharp physical pain) · da spids (sharp-pointed; keen) · fi kärkevä (incisive; penetrating) · cs dráždivý (piquant; pungent) · bg остър (sharp-pointed; keen) · cs štiplavý (piquant; pungent) · ca punyent (sharp-pointed; keen) · de packend (evoking strong mental sensation) · hu metsző (incisive; penetrating) · el διαπεραστικός (piercing) · hu találó (neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant) · ca penetrant (sharp-pointed; keen) · ja 鋭い (piquant; pungent) · de stechend (piquant; pungent) · ja 鋭い (sharp-pointed; keen) · es tajante (incisive; penetrating) · pt pungente (piquant; pungent) · de beißend (piquant; pungent) · ru прони́зывающий (incisive; penetrating) · pt incisivo (incisive; penetrating) · de relevant (neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant) · sk zahrotený (sharp-pointed; keen) · pt emocionante (evoking strong mental sensation) · pt penetrante (incisive; penetrating) · hu nyilalló (inducing sharp physical pain) · pt pontiagudo (sharp-pointed; keen) · de quälend (evoking strong mental sensation) · hu pikáns (piquant; pungent) · de durchdringend (piercing) · hu átható (piercing) · nl schrijnend (evoking strong mental sensation) · pl cięty (neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant) · ca penetrant (neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant) · bg пикантен (piquant; pungent) · ca picant (piquant; pungent) · cs pronikavý (incisive; penetrating) · nl pikant (piquant; pungent) · fi läpitunkeva (piercing) · pt eloquente (neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant) · fi pistävä (piquant; pungent) · da træffende (neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant) · el οδυνηρός (inducing sharp physical pain) · de zugespitzt (sharp-pointed; keen) · es mordaz (incisive; penetrating) · pt claro (neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant) · el αιχημρός (sharp-pointed; keen) · de treffend (neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant) · el οξύς (sharp-pointed; keen) · cs bolestný (inducing sharp physical pain) · de ergreifend (evoking strong mental sensation) · pl ostry (incisive; penetrating) · it chiaro (neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant)