as in bitterness
a harsh or sharp quality
there's a mean-spirited poignance to the novel's satiric portrait of Hollywood
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples 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 poignance
If reproductive futurism is fixated on meaning-making, as in, drawing existential poignance out of the illusion of progress and succession, then Edelman’s proposition encourages the rejection of meaning and determinacy itself in the pursuit of ideological liberation.
—
Alex Quicho, Wired, 9 Jan. 2022
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 
Alex Quicho, Wired, 9 Jan. 2022
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
-
Customers can get their first bites of the new steak garlic nacho fries Thursday, Jan. 16, at participating Taco Bell restaurants nationwide, according to the fast-food chain.—
Tanasia Kenney,
Kansas City Star,
15 Jan. 2025
-
The impact of the former could be more bark than bite, given that the U.S. has significantly reduced its dependence on Chinese imports over the past decade.—
Wes Moss,
Forbes,
14 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
Eternal Father Ömer Sami trained a camera on a cable technician in northern England and let the poignancy fly.—
Steven Zeitchik,
The Hollywood Reporter,
7 Jan. 2025
-
Passion, poignancy, ecstasy, agony and a Tic Tac ad Best game Everton 2-0 Liverpool, of course.—
Patrick Boyland,
The Athletic,
30 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
Security protocols embedded within each network node allow for immediate threat identification and isolation, while machine learning algorithms at the edge continuously monitor and adapt to new threats.—
Rafael Umann,
Forbes,
10 Jan. 2025
-
Now more people live at the flammable edges of wildlands, making places that are primed to burn into de facto suburbs.—
Zoë Schlanger,
The Atlantic,
10 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near poignance
Cite this Entry
“Poignance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poignance. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share