Poignant

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Poignant \Poign"ant\, a. [F., p. pr. of poindre to sting, fr. L.
     pungere to prick, sting. See {Pungent}.]
     1. Pricking; piercing; sharp; pungent. "His poignant spear."
        --Spenser. "Poynaunt sauce." --Chaucer.
        [1913 Webster]
  


     2. Fig.: Pointed; keen; satirical.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              His wit . . . became more lively and poignant. --Sir
                                                    W. Scott.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  poignant
       adj 1: arousing affect; "the homecoming of the released hostages
              was an affecting scene"; "poignant grief cannot endure
              forever"; "his gratitude was simple and touching"
              [syn: {affecting}, {touching}]
       2: keenly distressing to the mind or feelings; "poignant
          anxiety"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  162 Moby Thesaurus words for "poignant":
     absorbing, acerbic, acid, acidulous, acrid, acrimonious, acute,
     affecting, afflictive, agitating, agonizing, asperous, astringent,
     atrocious, barbed, biting, bitter, bleak, blue, caustic, cheerless,
     comfortless, corrosive, cramping, cruel, cutting, deep, deep-felt,
     deepgoing, deplorable, depressing, depressive, disastrous,
     discomforting, dismal, dismaying, distressful, distressing,
     disturbing, dolorific, dolorogenic, dolorous, double-edged,
     dramatic, dreary, driving, earnest, edged, effective, emotional,
     escharotic, excruciating, exquisite, extreme, fierce, forceful,
     forcible, gnawing, grave, grievous, griping, gutsy, hard,
     harrowing, harsh, heartfelt, homefelt, hurtful, hurting,
     imperative, impressive, incisive, indelible, intense, irritating,
     joyless, keen, lamentable, lively, melancholy, miserable,
     mordacious, mordant, mournful, moving, nervous, nose-tickling,
     painful, paroxysmal, pathetic, penetrating, peppery, peppy,
     perturbing, pervading, piercing, piquant, piteous, pitiable,
     pitiful, pointed, powerful, profound, punchy, pungent, racking,
     racy, regrettable, rigorous, rough, rueful, sad, saddening,
     sarcastic, sardonic, scathing, sensational, severe, sharp,
     shooting, sincere, sinewed, sinewy, slashing, snappy, sore,
     sorrowful, sour, sparkling, spasmatic, spasmic, spasmodic, spicy,
     spirited, stabbing, stinging, stirring, strident, striking,
     stringent, strong, tart, telling, tormenting, torturous, touching,
     tragic, trenchant, uncomfortable, upsetting, vehement, vigorous,
     violent, virulent, vital, vitriolic, vivacious, vivid, woebegone,
     woeful, wretched, zesty