-nt adjective
Etymology: Middle English pugnaunt, poinaunt, from Middle French poignant, present participle of poindre to prick, pierce, sting, from Latin pungere — more at pungent
1.
a. archaic : sharp and piquant to the taste
b. : pungent and strongly pervasive in odor
a poignant perfume, soft and languorous — Kenneth Roberts
2.
a.
(1) : painfully sharp with regard to the feelings : piercing , keen
poignant grief
with a look of poignant regret on his face — Bram Stoker
(2) : very moving : deeply affecting : touching
the poignant spectacle of a little child without a home
so many poignant memories — Havelock Ellis
b.
(1) : stinging, cutting
his satire is particularly poignant — F.M.Godfrey
poignant sarcasm — Benjamin Disraeli
(2) : incisive , penetrating
are revealed with poignant clarity — Joseph Frank
(3) : making a strong impression : striking
a poignant paradox — J.T.Clark
become both convincing and poignant to us — David Cecil
c. : urgent , pressing , acute
the more poignant problems of human existence — M.R.Cohen
3. obsolete : having a physically sharp point
4.
a. : keenly stimulating or pleasurable to the mind or feelings
a more poignant felicity than he had yet experienced — Nathaniel Hawthorne
ecstasy too poignant to endure — Saturday Review
this kind of day … had a more poignant loveliness — Jan Struther
b. : deft and to the point
her illustrations were apposite and poignant — Charles Lamb
: apt , pointed
makes some brief but poignant observations — G.A.Panichas
Synonyms: see moving , pungent