Meaning & use
poignancy
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Meanings
noununcountable
The quality of causing a strong feeling of sadness or tenderness, often mixed with sweetness.
Grammar: Uncountable: you say 'the poignancy of the moment', not 'a poignancy'.
Patterns
- the poignancy of something
- with poignancy
- a moment of poignancy
The poignancy of the farewell scene moved many viewers to tears.
There is a quiet poignancy in her photographs of abandoned homes.
The poem captures the poignancy of lost youth.
noununcountableformal
A sharp or intense quality that makes something feel deeply affecting.
Grammar: Still uncountable; often used in phrases like 'the poignancy of his words'.
Patterns
- the poignancy of something
The poignancy of his apology surprised everyone.
The music has a poignancy that words cannot express.
Common combinations
- the poignancy of the moment
- The poignancy of the moment was almost too much to bear.
- a sense of poignancy
- The film leaves you with a deep sense of poignancy.
- quiet poignancy
- Her novel is full of quiet poignancy.
- capture the poignancy
- The director captures the poignancy of everyday life.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sadness
- Sadness is a general feeling of being unhappy; poignancy is a more specific, often bittersweet sadness that touches the heart.
- pathos
- Pathos is a formal term for a quality that evokes pity or sadness, especially in art; poignancy is similar but often gentler and more personal.
- tenderness
- Tenderness is a feeling of gentle affection; poignancy combines that with a sense of sadness or loss.
Opposites
Word family
- poignant adjective
- Evoking a strong feeling of sadness or tenderness.
- poignantly adverb
- In a way that evokes sadness or tenderness.
Commonly confused: poignancy or pungency?
poignancy vs pungency
Pungency refers to a strong, sharp smell or taste; poignancy is about emotional sadness or tenderness.
Practice
Choose the sentence that uses 'poignancy' correctly.
Choose one answer.
'Poignancy' means a quality of deep sadness or tenderness, which fits the farewell speech. Option A confuses it with 'pungency' (a sharp smell/taste); option C is odd because tax laws are not emotionally touching; option D treats it as a countable object, but it is uncountable.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “poignancy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.