Etymology
Origin of poignancy
First recorded in 1680–90; poign(ant) + -ancy
Explanation
The noun poignancy refers to something that is deeply touching, especially something that brings forth strong emotions like sympathy, sadness, or sorrow. The poignancy of the movie may bring you to tears. Bring tissues. Lots of tissues. The noun poignancy is from the Old French word poindre, which means "to prick or sting." Related words include the adjective poignant. Similar words include pathos and bathos, although both of these words often imply a sort artificiality that poignancy does not. Pathos can imply a trick by the writer or speaker to produce sympathy or sadness and bathos can imply artificial sentimentality, so poignancy is often the preferred word when genuine emotion is involved.
Vocabulary lists containing poignancy
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Life of Pi
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But it takes a series of self-reflexive turns that are overelaborate in their conception and slightly inert in their execution, rendering the movie’s poignancy more theoretical than fully felt.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
Scarlet’s final encounter with Claudius radiates with the complicated poignancy expected of real, difficult catharsis.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2026
But the live performances found poignancy in the city’s spirit as a music town.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 8, 2026
From there, Gunn’s curated playlist, featuring bands like Hardcore Superstar, Cruel Intentions and Ida Maria, musically narrates each installment’s operatic heroics and slapstick violence, or adds poignancy to Chris’ bouts of crushingly low self-esteem.
From Salon • Dec. 14, 2025
The last time of anything has the poignancy of death itself.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
