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.
As metafiction goes, it could hardly be more poignant, though poignancy is not the author’s style.
Scarlet’s final encounter with Claudius radiates with the complicated poignancy expected of real, difficult catharsis.
From Los Angeles Times
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
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.
