adjective
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keen or incisive
trenchant criticism
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vigorous and effective
a trenchant foreign policy
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distinctly defined
a trenchant outline
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archaic sharp
a trenchant sword
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of trenchant
1275–1325; Middle English tranchaunt < Anglo-French; Old French trenchant, present participle of trenchier to cut. See trench, -ant
Explanation
If you're trenchant, it means you think or say smart, sharply worded things that cut right to the heart of the matter. A trenchant observation is one that makes people scratch their chins thoughtfully, or wince with embarrassment for whomever you're talking about, or both. The word trenchant originates from tranchant, which in French means "sharp" or "cutting," and it's related to the word trench, which originally meant a line carved in wood and later came to mean a ditch carved into the earth. The word is often used to describe political commentary or cultural criticism. One person known for her trenchant wit was the author and critic Mary McCarthy, who once said of the writer Lillian Hellman, "Every word she writes is a lie, including the 'and' and the 'the'."
Vocabulary lists containing trenchant
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "T"
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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.
Commander John Lewis, captain of nuclear powered hunter-killer submarine HMS Trenchant, allowed the party at Devonport dockyard in Plymouth.
From BBC • Apr. 28, 2020
The De Putron money came via Gloucester Research, which changed its name to GR Software & Research, then to Trenchant, and now trades under yet another name, G-Research.
From The Guardian • Jul. 8, 2014
Trenchant and aching from its inception in 2005, Mr. Muhly’s piece sounded anthemic here: a sublime example of precisely the kind of collaborative vision the Ecstatic Music Festival was formed to celebrate.
From New York Times • Jan. 18, 2011
Trenchant jokes about the Soviet regime have been an underground art form since the early days of Stalin.
From Time Magazine Archive
The objections Trenchant was making were important, having to do with the evidence.
From Wild Justice by Sprague, Ruth M.
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.
