poignancy
[poin-yuh n-see, poin-uh n-]
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Origin of poignancy
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
passion, sadness, pathos, concentration, sharpness, piquancy, sentimentality, feeling, unhappinessExamples from the Web for poignancy
Contemporary Examples
The signs have a poignancy, says Moss, “because there is a tension in them in what they are not saying,” he says.
The End of New York: How One Blog Tracks the Disappearance of a Vibrant CityTim Teeman
August 6, 2014
Once edgily shocking, the show now feels rich with pathos and poignancy.
The drive to find the cause and cure of autism rivals the urgency and poignancy to find the cause and cure of cancer.
Either way, part of the tragedy and poignancy of polio is its preferential spread to babies and toddlers.
My normalcy has its own poignancy and beauty to it that most hearing people will never know.
Historical Examples
For twenty-four hours Mr. Caryll's grief was overwhelming in its poignancy.
The Lion's SkinRafael Sabatini
To be “run ashore” has the littleness, poignancy, and bitterness of human error.
The Mirror of the SeaJoseph Conrad
It was my first delinquency, and had all the poignancy of a first fault.
Confessions Of Con CreganCharles James Lever
These words from her had a poignancy of meaning which made his reply difficult.
Cavanagh: Forest RangerHamlin Garland
But indistinct as things were, the poignancy of it went through him, and he groaned.
The Bishop of CottontownJohn Trotwood Moore
Word Origin and History for poignancy
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper