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Poignant vs Accurate - What's the difference?

poignant | accurate |

As adjectives the difference between poignant and accurate

is that poignant is (obsolete|of a weapon etc) sharp-pointed; keen while accurate is in exact or careful conformity to truth; the result of care or pains; free from failure, error, or defect; exact; as, an accurate'' calculator; an ''accurate'' measure; ''accurate expression, knowledge, etc.

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 ----

    accurate

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • In exact or careful conformity to truth; the result of care or pains; free from failure, error, or defect; exact; as, an accurate'' calculator; an ''accurate'' measure; ''accurate expression, knowledge, etc.
  • *
    • For more than 90% of the figures (mostly drawn during 1976-1990), either a scale, or the given magnification, will allow the user to derive accurate measurements, even when these are lacking in the diagnosis.
  • Deviating only slightly or within acceptable limits.
  • (obsolete) Precisely fixed; executed with care; careful.
  • * Bacon
    • Those conceive the celestial bodies have more accurate influences upon these things below.

    Usage notes

    * We speak of a thing as correct' with reference to some rule or standard of comparison; as, a '''correct''' account, a '''correct''' likeness, a man of ' correct deportment. * We speak of a thing as accurate' with reference to the care bestowed upon its execution, and the increased correctness to be expected therefrom; as, an '''accurate''' statement, an ' accurate detail of particulars. * We speak of a thing as exact' with reference to that perfected state of a thing in which there is no defect and no redundancy; as, an '''exact''' coincidence, the '''exact''' truth, an ' exact likeness. * We speak of a thing as precise' when we think of it as strictly conformed to some rule or model, as if ''cut down'' thereto; as a '''precise''' conformity instructions; '''precisely''' right; he was very ' precise in giving his directions.

    Synonyms

    * correct * exact * just * nice * particular

    Antonyms

    * inaccurate

    Derived terms

    * accuracy * accurately

    Anagrams

    * ----