# poignant

Pronunciation: say "POY-nyuhnt" /ˈpɔɪnjənt/

## Adjective

1. Stirring feelings so strong that they border on distress; deeply moving.
   - Simple: Touching your feelings so strongly that it almost hurts.
   - _Finding her grandmother's handwritten recipe cards brought back poignant memories of their Sunday dinners._
   - _The film's last scene, a father rereading his late son's letters, is almost unbearably poignant._
2. Of a remark, question, or look: sharp and penetrating; incisive and directly relevant to the matter at hand.
   - Simple: Of a remark, question, or look: sharp, clear, and exactly to the point.

## Adjective

3. Of a smell or taste: sharp and biting. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Having a strong, sharp smell or taste.
4. Causing sharp physical pain. *(dated, British)*
   - Simple: Causing a sharp pain in the body.
5. Usually of a weapon: sharp-pointed and keen. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Very sharp at the point, like a spear or a sword.

## Origin

Latin pungō ("prick") gave Anglo-Norman poindre ("to prick"), whose present participle puignant or poynaunt was borrowed into Middle English as poynaunt or poynant. Pungent is a doublet.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/poignant (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).