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Heartbroken vs Poignant - What's the difference?

heartbroken | poignant |

As adjectives the difference between heartbroken and poignant

is that heartbroken is suffering from sorrow, especially after a failed romance while poignant is (obsolete|of a weapon etc) sharp-pointed; keen.

heartbroken

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Suffering from sorrow, especially after a failed romance
    • When he told me he didn't want to see me anymore, I was heartbroken

    Synonyms

    * brokenhearted * inconsolable * forlorn * despairing * dejected * disconsolate * distraught * devastated * wretched * grief-stricken * discouraged

    Derived terms

    * heartbrokenly * heartbrokenness

    Anagrams

    * English adjectives ending in -en

    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

    Related terms

    * poignancy

    References

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