as in bitterness
a harsh or sharp quality
there was a poignancy to his wit that often left his targets smarting
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Recent Examples of poignancy
Still, there’s a bittersweet poignancy to the 100th Oscars also being the last traditional broadcast, a swan song for the long-ago time when the ceremony occupied the very center of popular culture.
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Nate Jones, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2025
So is there some sort of poignancy in making this latest film?
—Antonia Blyth, Deadline, 17 Dec. 2025
The question underlines the poignancy of the current show.
—Hilton Als, New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2025
There’s no distance between the audience and the terror, humor, exhilaration, and poignancy that alternate throughout Coogler‘s audacious horror movie.
—Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 13 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for poignancy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for poignancy
Noun
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Of the many types of basil, the classic Italian 'Treviso' variety stands out for resisting bitterness, staying tender longer, and being slow to flower even as summer heats up.—
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Red flags included bitterness or any metallic notes the beans may have picked up during processing.—
Noun
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From comfort food classics to more elevated plates, several bites stood out at a preview event.—
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Guests will naturally gravitate towards these pairings, ensuring the perfect bite.—
Noun
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Rye whiskey is the drier and spicier cousin of bourbon with an herbaceous edge, an edge which (as with the Sazerac, La Louisiane and others) is given a few dozen exclamation points with a dash of absinthe.—
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Cake mix, lemon pie filling, and butter come together in the oven to create crisp edges and a gooey, citrusy center, while a little cream cheese in the mix rounds out the lemon’s brightness.—
Noun
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There’s a particular poignance to Manousos giving this speech — an honest-to-goodness monologue by his standards — at the Darién Gap, amid the detritus of migrants who have shed their belongings to take this path from South to Central America.—
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By contrast, Borghi limns a figure of comingled sensuality, threat and eventual poignance, without ever appearing to reach for effect.—
Cite this Entry
“Poignancy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poignancy. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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