Etymology
Origin of poignancy
First recorded in 1680–90; poign(ant) + -ancy
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 the live performances found poignancy in the city’s spirit as a music town.
From Los Angeles Times
Many of the differences in the characters’ destinies have been due to circumstances beyond their control, and perhaps their choices have been likewise inevitable, though the payoff is a poignancy that enriches the comedy.
The poignancy of “Stand by Me,” the authenticity and gravitas he invested in this story of youth, makes it a personal triumph — his funny father couldn’t, and wouldn’t, have directed anything like it.
From Los Angeles Times
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
The poignancy lies not in the words themselves but in the world Clara inhabits.
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.
