Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The state or quality of being trenchant; sharpness; keenness; causticity.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun the quality of being trenchant
  • noun irony or bitterness of tone

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun keenness and forcefulness of thought or expression or intellect

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Isabel saw them come with a good deal of assiduity to her aunt’s hotel, and judged them with a trenchancy which is doubtless to be accounted for by the temporary exaltation of her sense of human duty.

    Chapter XX 1917

  • One pleasure in the rereading of Marx is to savor the trenchancy and aptness of his literary allusions.

    The Revenge of Karl Marx 2009

  • Pianist Lambert Orkis, violinist Nurit Bar-Josef and cellist David Hardy dug into the score with robust tone and obvious affection, turning on a dime from trenchancy to delicate wisps of sound.

    Kennedy Center Chamber Players' take on Previn, Haydn, Schumman Post 2010

  • One pleasure in the rereading of Marx is to savor the trenchancy and aptness of his literary allusions.

    The Revenge of Karl Marx 2009

  • Strange that the only text that seriously can be said to rival Shakespeare in trenchancy and power of expression should be a work primarily of religion, not literature, a compound book by many authors and, for English readers, a work of translation as well.

    Conveying truth through language « Anglican Samizdat 2009

  • One pleasure in the rereading of Marx is to savor the trenchancy and aptness of his literary allusions.

    Archive 2009-03-01 Tusar N Mohapatra 2009

  • One pleasure in the rereading of Marx is to savor the trenchancy and aptness of his literary allusions.

    Pretexts for Marx, goads for Gandhi Tusar N Mohapatra 2009

  • Elbert Ventura for Reverse Shot: With its Biblical intimations and political trenchancy, Children of Men achieves an allegorical grandeur that obliterates misgivings about narrative plausibility - you can imagine its epic journey as a pop origin myth repeated to future generations (should they come, that is).

    GreenCine Daily: Interview. Alfonso Cuarón. 2006

  • We hope that the quality of its writing, the trenchancy of its insights, and the depth and thoughtfulness of its reporting will inspire many of our online readers to join the Atlantic family by becoming print subscribers.

    Full Content of Atlantic Monthly Site Now Free to All « ResourceShelf 2008

  • The holiday really is for all Americans, though I suppose a sourpuss leftist might, with boring trenchancy, be able to interject it isn't such a fine day for Native Americans.

    'Let All Your Thinks Be Thanks' 2007

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