Poignant vs Dread - What's the difference?
poignant | dread |
(obsolete, of a weapon etc) Sharp-pointed; keen.
* 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , VII:
Incisive; penetrating.
neat; eloquent; applicable; relevant.
Evoking strong mental sensation, to the point of distress; emotionally moving.
(figuratively, of a taste or smell) Piquant, pungent.
Piercing.
(dated, mostly British) Inducing sharp physical pain.
To fear greatly.
To anticipate with fear.
* 1877 , (Anna Sewell), (Black Beauty) Chapter 22[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Black_Beauty/22]
To be in dread, or great fear.
* Bible, Deuteronomy i. 29
Great fear in view of impending evil; fearful apprehension of danger; anticipatory terror.
* Tillotson
* Shakespeare
* '>citation
Reverential or respectful fear; awe.
* Bible, Genesis ix 2.
* Shakespeare
Somebody or something dreaded.
(obsolete) A person highly revered.
* Spenser
(obsolete) Fury; dreadfulness.
A Rastafarian.
(chiefly, in the plural) dreadlock
Terrible; greatly feared.
(archaic) Awe-inspiring; held in fearful awe.
*
As adjectives the difference between poignant and dread
is that poignant is sharp-pointed; keen while dread is terrible; greatly feared.As a verb dread is
to fear greatly.As a noun dread is
great fear in view of impending evil; fearful apprehension of danger; anticipatory terror.poignant
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- His siluer shield, now idle maisterlesse; / His poynant speare, that many made to bleed [...].
- His comments were poignant and witty.
- A poignant reply will garner more credence than hours of blown smoke.
- Flipping through his high school yearbook evoked many a poignant memory of yesteryear.
Synonyms
* (evoking strong mental sensation) distressing, movingReferences
* OED 2nd edition 1989 * Webster Third New International 1986 ----dread
English
Verb
(en verb)- I'm dreading getting the results of the test, as it could decide my whole life.
- Day by day, hole by hole our bearing reins were shortened, and instead of looking forward with pleasure to having my harness put on as I used to do, I began to dread it.
- Dread not, neither be afraid of them.
Derived terms
* dreadable * dreadworthyNoun
(en noun)- the secret dread of divine displeasure
- the dread of something after death
- The fear of you, and the dread of you, shall be upon every beast of the earth.
- His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, / The attribute to awe and majesty, / Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings.
- Una, his dear dread
- (Spenser)