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Dramatic vs Poignant - What's the difference?

dramatic | poignant |

As adjectives the difference between dramatic and poignant

is that dramatic is dramatic while poignant is (obsolete|of a weapon etc) sharp-pointed; keen.

dramatic

English

Alternative forms

* dramatick

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Of or relating to the drama.
  • *
  • Striking in appearance or effect.
  • *
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-17, volume=408, issue=8849, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Best and brightest , passage=Poland has made some dramatic gains in education in the past decade. Before 2000 half of the country’s rural adults had finished only primary school. Yet international rankings now put the country’s students well ahead of America’s in science and maths (the strongest predictor of future earnings), even as the country spends far less per pupil. }}
  • Having a powerful, expressive singing voice.
  • Derived terms

    * nondramatic

    poignant

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete, of a weapon etc) Sharp-pointed; keen.
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , VII:
  • His siluer shield, now idle maisterlesse; / His poynant speare, that many made to bleed [...].
  • Incisive; penetrating.
  • His comments were poignant and witty.
  • neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant.
  • A poignant reply will garner more credence than hours of blown smoke.
  • Evoking strong mental sensation, to the point of distress; emotionally moving.
  • Flipping through his high school yearbook evoked many a poignant memory of yesteryear.
  • (figuratively, of a taste or smell) Piquant, pungent.
  • Piercing.
  • (dated, mostly British) Inducing sharp physical pain.
  • Synonyms

    * (evoking strong mental sensation) distressing, moving

    References

    * OED 2nd edition 1989 * Webster Third New International 1986 ----