poignant

adj

Etymology: From Middle English poynaunt, poynant, borrowed from Anglo-Norman puignant, poynaunt etc., present participle of poindre (“to prick”), from Latin pungō (“prick”). Doublet of pungent.

1. Sharp-pointed; keen.

   “His siluer shield, now idle maisterlesse; / His poynant speare, that many made to bleed [...].”

2. Neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant.

   “A poignant reply will garner more credence than hours of blown smoke.”

3. Evoking strong mental sensation, to the point of distress; emotionally moving.

   “Flipping through his high school yearbook evoked many a poignant memory of yesteryear.”

   “The shabby chest of drawers was spread with a lace cover, and set out with a few gold-topped boxes and bottles, a rose-coloured pin-cushion, a glass tray strewn with tortoise-shell hair[-]pins—he shrank from the poignant intimacy of these trifles, and from the blank surface of the toilet-mirror above them.”

4. Piquant, pungent.
5. Incisive; penetrating; piercing.

   “His comments were poignant and witty.”

6. Inducing sharp physical pain.