as in sharply
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Recent Examples of piercingly
In the opening keynote, president of public broadcaster Arte France Bruno Patino provided a bleak yet piercingly precise evaluation of the industry today.
—
Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 17 Mar. 2026
His lashes are long, the eyes deep-set, large and intense, staring piercingly into you.
—Touré, Rolling Stone, 14 Oct. 2025
How could the woman who wrote so piercingly about women’s subjugation subjugate herself to not just one but two men?
—Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2025
Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 17 Mar. 2026
His lashes are long, the eyes deep-set, large and intense, staring piercingly into you.
—Touré, Rolling Stone, 14 Oct. 2025
How could the woman who wrote so piercingly about women’s subjugation subjugate herself to not just one but two men?
—Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for piercingly
Adverb
-
Somaliland’s moment in Washington has been building for years, but the pace has accelerated sharply.—
Yinka Adegoke,
semafor.com,
20 Mar. 2026
-
In 2025, compliance checks dropped sharply to 369 after department leaders curtailed overtime spending amid a broader city budget crunch.—
Tony Plohetski,
Austin American Statesman,
19 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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Each episode begins, almost mid-sentence, with narration that’s equal parts poignantly philosophic and absurdly, randomly juvenile.—
Eric Vilas-Boas,
Vulture,
18 Mar. 2026
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But as the essays so poignantly remind us, the grief of losing a canine companion is matched only by the singular joy of having one in the first place.—
Air Mail,
Air Mail,
14 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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With the convention center demolished for renovations, festivalgoers moving between key areas like Rainey Street and Congress Avenue felt the city’s transportation gaps more acutely.—
Karoline Leonard,
Austin American Statesman,
18 Mar. 2026
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Notably absent, however, were the leaders of Colombia and Mexico, the two nations suffering most acutely.—
Editorial,
Boston Herald,
15 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
Dissent is harshly punished in Iran, as demonstrated earlier this year when the regime killed thousands of protesters who dared to challenge its rule.—
Hilary Whiteman,
CNN Money,
11 Mar. 2026
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Since leaving office, Ahmadinejad has harshly criticized the Iranian government, and as a result, Iran’s Guardian Council has formally excluded him from running for president.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
10 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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Speaking to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, Leo seemed keenly aware that the #MeToo movement had unleashed revelations around the world of abuses committed against adults in vulnerable situations within the church.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 Mar. 2026
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The camera, while keenly observant, maintains a mannered distance within the confines of Compassion House, a caring facility where some teens are sent by their families, and others are ordered by local courts while strapped with ankle monitors too large for their legs.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
12 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
There’s a tremendous sweetness to the film and its central relationships, but the banter ping-pongs swiftly between the intimate and the darkly absurd.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
18 Mar. 2026
-
The book, animated by Barbara’s reflections, is a striking, darkly comic portrait of a mind narrowed by disappointment.—
Isle McElroy,
The Atlantic,
16 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
More distressingly, their 11 losses last season didn’t just mark the head coach’s first losing season since his tenure in Kansas City began in 2013.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
1 Mar. 2026
-
The pipeline of new antibiotics remains distressingly thin, and most drugs currently in development are structurally similar to existing antibiotics, potentially limiting their effectiveness.—
André O. Hudson,
The Conversation,
21 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
What at first appears to be a run-of-the-mill trauma drama about a family dealing with the eldest child’s anorexia nervosa gradually evolves into something odder and more original, even blackly comic, in Ungrateful Beings.—
Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Piercingly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piercingly. Accessed 21 Mar. 2026.
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