poignant

[ poin-yuhnt, poi-nuhnt ]

/ ˈpɔɪn yənt, ˈpɔɪ nənt /

adjective

keenly distressing to the feelings: poignant regret.

keen or strong in mental appeal: a subject of poignant interest.

affecting or moving the emotions: a poignant scene.

pungent to the smell: poignant cooking odors.

Nearby words

pohnpei, pohutukawa, poi, poi dance, poignancy, poignant, poignantly, poikilitic, poikilo-, poikiloblast, poikiloblastic

Origin of poignant

1350–1400; Middle English poynaunt < Middle French poignant, present participle of poindre < Latin pungere to prick, pierce. See pungent, -ant

SYNONYMS FOR poignant

1 intense, sincere, heartfelt.

4 piquant, sharp.

ANTONYMS FOR poignant

1, 2 mild.

Related forms

poign·ant·ly, adverbun·poign·ant, adjectiveun·poign·ant·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for poignantly

I am living in Germany now,” she poignantly told us, “but I do not want to die in Germany.
Survived Hitler, Returned to Germany|Steve North|May 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Poignantly, the portion doesn't deal with her life at all, but with her death and its aftermath.
Despite Hebron's Importance, Israel Will Have to Give It Up|Samuel Lebens|October 28, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And Kings Point elucidates these fears all too clearly and poignantly.
No Country for Old People: ‘Kings Point’ Exposes the Hidden Elder Crisis|Donald A. Davidoff|February 16, 2013|DAILY BEAST
No news organization covered September 11, during or since, as comprehensively or as poignantly as the Times did.
Inside Tania Head’s Terrible 9/11 Lie: ‘The Woman Who Wasn’t There’|Robin Gaby Fisher, Angelo J. Guglielmo, Jr.|April 6, 2012|DAILY BEAST

If The Art of Fielding begins as a baseball story, so it ends as one, too—poignantly, beautifully, and improbably.
Good Glove, No Hit|David Goodwillie|September 9, 2011|DAILY BEAST
There was something too poignantly sad about the unfulfilled hope of the picture.
The Four Pools Mystery|Jean Webster
But again she threw off the sweet, poignantly sweet influence and strove to think clearly.
The Beauty|Mrs. Wilson Woodrow
"The pathos of distance" is a phrase that haunts him as poignantly as it haunted Nietzsche, its maker.
A Book of Prefaces|H. L. Mencken
"Meine Ruhe ist hin" (My rest is o'er), I began bravely, feeling how poignantly applicable the line was to my present situation.
An American Girl in Munich|Mabel W. Daniels
Yes, whatever the grief may be, it is in the hour of such awakenings we feel it most poignantly.
Ishmael|Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth

British Dictionary definitions for poignantly

poignant

/ (ˈpɔɪnjənt, -nənt) /

adjective

sharply distressing or painful to the feelings

to the point; cutting or piercingpoignant wit

keen or pertinent in mental appeala poignant subject

pungent in smell

Derived Forms

poignancy or poignance, nounpoignantly, adverb

Word Origin for poignant

C14: from Old French, from Latin pungens pricking, from pungere to sting, pierce, grieve

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012