as in bitterness
a harsh or sharp quality
there's a mean-spirited poignance to the novel's satiric portrait of Hollywood
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of poignance
In this book, however, her collages produce not surprise or poignance but a sense of cutting and pasting, of breathless summary.
—
Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2023
That means none of the bubble-burst poignance that Bartlett and Natasha Rothwell brought as the servant-victims of getaway decadence.
—Darren Franich, EW.com, 24 Oct. 2022
Transcending expectations is its own expectation, and Midnights makes clear, with modest poignance, that Swift has burned out on her own hype.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 21 Oct. 2022
In the song’s intro, processional drums and a trembling guitar line promised a power ballad with all the poignance of a Steven Spielberg movie.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 4 Oct. 2022
See All Example Sentences for poignance
Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2023
That means none of the bubble-burst poignance that Bartlett and Natasha Rothwell brought as the servant-victims of getaway decadence.
—Darren Franich, EW.com, 24 Oct. 2022
Transcending expectations is its own expectation, and Midnights makes clear, with modest poignance, that Swift has burned out on her own hype.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 21 Oct. 2022
In the song’s intro, processional drums and a trembling guitar line promised a power ballad with all the poignance of a Steven Spielberg movie.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 4 Oct. 2022
See All Example Sentences for poignance
Recent Examples of Synonyms for poignance
Noun
-
As stories of love, loss and migration unfold over small bites and careful sips, Bose paints a portrait of identity steeped in sensory memory.—
Jamie Lang,
Variety,
7 June 2025
-
What Davies has thus far brought to his second bite of the Who apple has proven … mixed.—
Glen Weldon,
NPR,
7 June 2025
Noun
-
To drive home the pain and poignancy of that, the album cover featured a photo of Jeffreys as a child dressed in his baseball uniform to attend the historic game in which Jackie Robinson broke the color line.—
Jim Farber,
Rolling Stone,
5 June 2025
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The movie’s poignancy accumulates gradually, every supple turn expertly modulated as the presence of generations past becomes more tangible.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
21 May 2025
Noun
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In a Venezuelan election, running as an incumbent gives you the sort of edge that any unscrupulous and power-hungry leader around the world can only fantasize about.—
Antonio Maria Delgado,
Miami Herald,
3 June 2025
-
This creates a competitive vulnerability, especially in algorithmic trading, where uniqueness can deliver billions in edge.—
Christer Holloman,
Forbes.com,
2 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Poignance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poignance. Accessed 16 Jun. 2025.
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