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.

Adjective

(en adjective)

Causing pain or distress.

* 2006 , , Concrete: Killer Smile , Dark Horse Books, cover text

Harrowing journeys down the dark roads of anger, violence, and madness

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-01

, author=Brian Hayes , title=Father of Fractals , volume=101, issue=1, page=62 , magazine= citation , passage=Toward the end of the war, Benoit was sent off on his own with forged papers; he wound up working as a horse groom at a chalet in the Loire valley. Mandelbrot describes this harrowing youth with great sangfroid.}}