piercingly

adverb

as in sharply

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of piercingly Chef Steven Pham is still simmering his signature Northern Vietnamese-style pho ga, which features a soul-piercingly clear broth, tender poached chicken, rice noodles, and a floating raft of fresh herbs. — Becky Duffett, Bon Appetit Magazine, 8 June 2026 The Towode Door Stop Alarm is a budget-friendly, highly effective safety tool that functions as a wedge door stop and a piercingly loud alarm when activated. — Sophie Dodd, Travel + Leisure, 31 May 2026 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 Perched along the Dalton Highway and north of the Arctic Circle, Coldfoot has virtually no light pollution, piercingly clear winter nights, and a reputation among aurora chasers for its reliable solar shows. — Sarah Buder, AFAR Media, 9 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
  1. sharply
  2. poignantly
  3. acutely
  4. harshly
  5. keenly
  6. darkly
  7. distressingly
  8. blackly
Adverb
  • In recent weeks, new cases and deaths have declined in Ituri province, the outbreak's epicenter, but risen sharply in neighboring North Kivu and Haut-Uele, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said at a weekly briefing.
    — JEAN-YVES KAMALE, Arkansas Online, 11 Sep. 2026
  • The defense's account differs sharply from prosecutors' allegations.
    — Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of sharply
Adverb
  • Most poignantly, he was struck by how far the late, great Buck O’Neil’s museum has come since its inception in a one-room office in 1990.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 26 Aug. 2026
  • At once a coming-of-age drama and a portrait of a dying Texas town in the 1950s, The Last Picture Show, based on Pulitzer Prize winner Larry McMurtry’s novel, poignantly depicts the bleak descent of youth into jaded adulthood.
    — Air Mail, Air Mail, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of poignantly
Adverb
  • Fractures amid growth The fractures have been felt acutely by young conservatives like 23-year-old Dino Fantegrossi.
    — Elena Moore, NPR, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Their absence was acutely felt in the first half, but the Irish got better.
    — Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of acutely
Adverb
  • Speaking harshly about migrants has been seen as a potential gateway to the hatred that led to the Holocaust.
    — Mark Sappenfield, Christian Science Monitor, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Yust also alleges prosecutorial misconduct, arguing that a prosecutor improperly urged jurors to sentence him more harshly because of the emotional impact of the trial on them.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of harshly
Adverb
  • The bard of Idaho, where he was raised but no longer lives, Hunter is keenly aware that no one exists in a psychological vacuum.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Great athletes experience it more keenly than most in their sunset years; ultimately, no one can topple it.
    — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of keenly
Adverb
  • Mulligan should win for her darkly funny, cringe-inducing turn, though Snook, Pidgeon and sentimental favorite Field are all in play too.
    — Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • More darkly, Musk implies Elon wants the vast data a Tesla can accumulate on its owners to feed his AI ambitions.
    — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of darkly
Adverb
  • The movie’s strongest sequences provide the all-too-rare sensation of truly not being able to believe your eyes, as the film’s most fantastical elements feel distressingly real.
    — Tiffany Kelly, Entertainment Weekly, 17 July 2026
  • The event was halted after an hour due to fears about her safety, which distressingly encapsulates a tension that the trans Mayan artist has navigated for years.
    — Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 14 June 2026
Definition of distressingly
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
  • Saadawi’s unabashedly political, blackly funny contemporary take on the mythos (superb translated by Jonathan Wright, who captures the wry humor and brooding, ominous rhythms of Saadawi’s dark tale) is, however, a true standout in a very crowded field.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 July 2024
Definition of blackly

Browse Nearby Words

piercing
piercingly
pier glass
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Piercingly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piercingly. Accessed 15 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of quorum

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All