poignance

English

Etymology

From poignant +‎ -ance.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɔɪnjəns/

Noun

poignance (countable and uncountable, plural poignances)

1. Poignancy; the quality or state of being poignant. [from 17th c.]
   • 1983, Lawrence Durrell, Sebastian (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 1016:

     The objects themselves might have come from some Stone Age grave so remote did they seem: yet they had poignance.

   • 1988 August 19, Cecil Adams, “The Straight Dope”, in Chicago Reader‎:

     Too bad Locke's idea didn't catch on; the thought of measuring things in philosophical feet has an unquestionable poignance.