poignant
adjective

- causing or having a very sharp feeling of sadness

- moving or exciting the feelings or emotions

The Cambridge Dictionary / Collins Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

Late 14th century, poinaunt “painful to physical or mental feeling” (of sauce, spice, wine as well as things that affect the feelings), from Old French poignant “sharp, pointed” (13th century), present participle of poindre “to prick, sting”, from Latin pungere “to prick, pierce, sting”.

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A POIGNANT VIEW FROM SPACE

U.S. astronaut Frank Culbertson made unfortunate history on September 11, 2001. As the only American not on the planet that day, he saw the events unfold from the International Space Station. He also watched as his former U.S. Navy classmate, Charles Burlingame, slammed into the Pentagon as pilot of American Airlines flight 77. Afterwards he wrote a poignant letter:

“As the news of occurring events was being passed to me from Houston, we were literally on the other side of the world. The news seemed surreal. I was flabbergasted, then horrified. I glanced at the world map on the computer and knew we would be passing over New England in a few minutes. I zipped across the station until I found a window that would give me a view of New York City and Washington, D.C., and grabbed the nearest camera. As I looked down, we witnessed the collapse of the second Twin Tower.

The smoke seemed to have an odd bloom to it at the base of the column. I turned my gaze toward Washington. There was a haze of smoke, but no specific source could be seen. It all looked incredible from two to three hundred miles above the Earth. I couldn’t even imagine the tragic scenes on the ground.”

He then added that “Tears don’t flow the same in space.”

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SYNONYMS

- evoking a keen sense of sadness or regret
- stimulating to the senses or to one’s mind
- full of, or evocative of, expression or emotion
- having or arousing feelings of tenderness, sadness, or nostalgia

affecting, agonising, arousing, bitter-sweet, chilling, deeply felt, emotionally moving, heart-breaking, heart-melting, heart-rending, heart-warming, heart-wrenching, intense, moving, never to be forgotten, nostalgic, overwhelming, plaintive, POIGNANT, rousing, soul-stirring, soulful, spine-chilling, spine-tingling, stirring, swaying, touching, unforgettable, wistful

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THANKS to Uli, Florian, and Sybille for suggesting today's OWAD.

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“Hearing their national anthem during Olympic ceremonies is POIGNANT for many people.”

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Paul Smith, IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40